How we work
Working well together in complexity
Most leadership challenges today are not technical problems waiting for the right solution.
They are complex, human situations shaped by relationships, power, history, and uncertainty.
In these contexts, improvement doesn’t come from better frameworks or individual capability alone. It comes from understanding how the system is really operating — and making deliberate shifts in how people think, decide, and work together.
That is the focus of our work.
Leadership as a shared capability
Many organisations invest heavily in developing individual leaders, then hope collaboration will follow.
Our experience — and the evidence from psychology and systems thinking — suggests the opposite approach is often more effective.
At Building20, we develop leadership as a quality of the whole team:
- how direction is set
- how decisions are made
- how accountability is held
- how disagreement and uncertainty are handled
When these conditions are strengthened, individual leaders tend to thrive naturally. Without absorbing unsustainable strain.
Our approach
Our work blends three elements:
Psychological insight
We draw on behavioural science, decision‑making research, and solution‑focused practice to understand how people make sense of situations, relate to one another, and act under pressure.
Complexity thinking
We look for patterns in the complex systems shaping behaviour: relationships, incentives, histories, power dynamics, and constraints. This helps teams avoid treating systemic issues as individual shortcomings and to gain confidence to act in unpredictable environments.
Practical action
We work with real situations and the next achievable step. Not abstractions and hypothetical long term plans. Insight is only valuable if it changes what happens in meetings, decisions, and everyday work.
What our work typically involves
While every engagement is designed around a specific context, most include some combination of:
- Structured conversations that surface what’s really happening beneath the surface
- Facilitated workshops to build shared understanding and alignment
- Coaching to support leaders navigating complexity within their role
- Support to clarify purpose, priorities, and ways of working
- Time and space to slow thinking down enough for better judgment to emerge
We aim always to build capability, not dependence. Our principle is just enough external support — so teams are better equipped long after our work ends.
How we collaborate with clients
Our work is most effective when clients are willing to engage thoughtfully with their own system.
We work best with teams who:
- Are curious about their own patterns of thinking and interaction
- Have the authority to act on what they learn
- Are willing to sit with complexity rather than rush to simple answers
- Want progress that is humane as well as effective
We are not a consultancy that arrives with answers. We work alongside clients to help them understand what is happening — and decide what to do next.
If you’re considering working with us
A conversation is usually the right place to start.
We’ll explore what you’re noticing, where effort seems to be going without the progress you hoped for, and whether our way of working would be genuinely helpful in your context.