David Liddle - founder and CEO of leading mediation, conflict management and leadership consultancy The TCM Group - has released his new book Transformational Culture.
Announcing the launch on LinkedIn, Liddle explained that his book encourages organisations to reject traditional methods of discipline and performance procedure, and instead embrace more of a "person-centred and values-based system of justice", which he has dubbed transformational justice.
"With a powerful foreword from Dave Ulrich, my book examines the development of transformational cultures across a wide range of sectors and it includes case studies from banking, hospitality, media, government and others," he wrote.
"It also examines the healthcare sector and why the need for a reform of workplace cultures across the NHS is vital."
Liddle established The TCM Group in 2001 and has worked with business leaders, public servants and politicians around the world in a bid to help them resolve conflicts in a more effective and lasting manner.
Based in London, the firm was awarded the Mediation Provider of the Year in 2018 by the Civil Mediation Council.
The book follows many of the strategies that The TCM Group have used to great effect, with Michael West (Senior Visiting Fellow at The King’s Fund, Professor of Organisational Psychology at Lancaster University and Emeritus Professor at Aston University) describing its message as something that organisations should aspire towards.
"Organisations are human communities and to ensure their contribution to society and the world, David Liddle compellingly makes the case that their cultures must be just, fair, inclusive, compassionate, sustainable, and high performing," he said.
"The understanding offered by this powerful analysis of organizational culture offers a clear route to transforming work organizations for the future so that those who work in them thrive, the lives of the people they serve are enhanced and the planet they are part of is protected. This must be the aspiration of all work organisations for all our futures and David Liddle’s book shows how we can and must achieve that."
Liddle wrote for a previous edition of The Parliamentary Review in advance of the release of his book, where he detailed some of his personal experience within the sector.
Discussing his philosophy on mediation, Liddle said that it should make up part of organisation's strategy, a tool to be utilised given that each conflict has its own nuance.
"Mediation and restorative justice play an important part in an organisation’s overall strategy for dealing with these issues," he wrote.
"They sit within the overall ecosystem of any given organisation, serving as an additional tool for conflict resolution. After all, if the only tool in the box is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail. Conflict is more nuanced than that, and it requires a more nuanced response in kind. Dialogue, empathy and collaboration are central to mediation, and they are central to the success of an effective organisation. For organisations who are serious about managing conflict, in all forms, there has never been a better time to mediate than now."
