Here at M-CO, we pride ourselves in our ability to be, ‘thinkers and doers’, but what does that actually mean?
Thinkers tend to be those who express themselves creatively. Have an ability to problem solve using innovation and strategic design to tackle new ideas.
Doers on the other hand are pragmatic. They excel at execution and put theory into practice. Doers take initiative and are efficient with their time, placing an emphasis on output and achieving actions.
In light of today’s dedication to World Thinking Day, we spoke with M-CO Director, Simon Gregory, to explain what exactly it means to be both thinkers and doers, and how the M-CO team demonstrates the ability to be both.
He said,
“At M-CO, we are thinkers and doers, at least that’s what our clients tell us.
What I think it reflects is that we can help our clients discover and define opportunities, but we also support them in turning them into reality in a very practical way.
Great thoughts and big ideas are only useful if they can be turned into something relevant and deliverable for an organisation.
We always start from a position of understanding our clients’ environments, their goals, and aspirations, but also their challenges and constraints. As one of our clients said: ‘we get into the trenches with them’.
Our multidisciplinary team works with client teams to create ambitious ideas, and we then support our clients to turn ideas into reality. Drawing on resources ranging from strategists to environmentalists, from behavioural scientists to spatial planners, from designers to project managers, we create concepts and turn them into realities.
In every project, we combine creativity with pragmatism, ingenuity with practicality. We unlock the greatest potential and identify the tools and supports needed to deliver it. In short, we love to see the result, not just create the theory!”
So as Simon says (pun intended), good ideas are only as good as the ability and success of executing them. At M-CO we’re facilitators, planners, designers, analysts, coordinators, researchers and sometimes, we’re all of them at once.
Harry Seymour, Senior Project Manager for M-CO reflected on his work with the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), identifying this particular project as a prime example of M-CO actively embodying the term ‘thinkers and doers’.
Harry said,
“A stand-out example of M-CO as “thinkers and doers” is our work in strategy development, from concept and planning through to implementation.
In 2019 we embarked on a project with ILCU to assist them in the development of their new five-year strategy. M-CO designed a collaborative approach to the strategy development process, working with a steering group made up of board members, executives and stakeholders, and undertaking extensive staff consultation to arrive at a set of ambitious strategic priorities for the organisation.
We pride ourselves on our ability to use creativity to unlock ideas and novel concepts, to harness those ideas to articulate strategic direction, and ultimately to translate that strategy into action.
Following the delivery of the strategic plan, ILCU engaged M-CO to develop an accompanying implementation plan, involving the creation of working groups and detailed actions, timelines, budgets and an evaluation approach. This was further enhanced by the creation of a reporting framework, with M-CO taking on a role of supporting the strategic leads for an initial period of time.”
Paul Bailey, Head of Communications at the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), agreed that we are both thinkers and doers, crediting our use of our multidisciplinary team to unlock human ingenuity and deliver innovative results.
He said:
“M-CO’s approach to strategy development is different from any other agency I’ve worked with. The creativity they bring to the process is a testament to the eclectic mix of in-house skills and talent they employ from architects to engineers and everything in between!
I would highly recommend M-CO if you are embarking on a strategy development journey. Not only will it be interesting and engaging, but you will end up with a fully implementable and relevant strategy.”
So, as we celebrate World Thinking Day today, we also celebrate our ability to think differently and think outside the box. By utilising our dynamic team and combining pragmatism with creativity, we ensure innovative and tangible results are delivered across all of our projects, every time.
Happy #WorldThinkingDay from M-CO, here’s to thinking differently!