Andreas Knoth

Email: knoth@socius.de
Internet: socius.de
Telephone: +49 (0)30 403010223
#emergence #strategy #cooperation

My consulting approach is characterised by a strong trust in self-organization – knowing that this always implies the risk of a messy communal kitchen. When supporting processes, this helps me to confront the dynamics of systems with a mixture of curiosity and calmness.

My formal education has revolved around organization studies:

I graduated from the Freie Universität Berlin in 1999; my degree focused on Industrial and Organizational Psychology. It was here I first encountered the critical psychology approach, which centres on the subject perspective and the changeable nature of social reality; this approach is significant to me to this day.

In order to gain a different perspective, in 2001, I completed a Master of Business Studies in Management and Organization at University College Dublin.

My further training as a facilitator (www.abfev.de) and a coach based on Gestalt and Systemic approaches (DGfC, Akademie Remscheid, en.kulturellebildung.de) also equipt me with practical tools for consulting.

Before becoming a consultant, I worked for independent institutions and foundations for many years. I gained my first work experience in the USA, where I worked in a shelter for the homeless through the Action Reconciliation program (www.asf-ev.de). The professionalism, but also the pragmatism of the American non-profit sector never ceases to impress me. My experiences in South-Eastern Europe also made a strong impression on me; I was involved in cultural and civic education work during and after the Bosnian War (Mladi Most, www.wings-of-hope.de, balkanblackbox.de). I still have close connections to both these regions through family and friends.

One of my current focuses at SOCIUS is supporting strategy processes and cooperative development projects (Consider multiplying rather than just adding up ideas). As the managing director of a freedom-loving consulting cooperative, which operates a hybrid company, I am well aquainted with the joys and frustrations of tension management. Having worked in the field of network research and social enterprise for several years, I am currently curious about the organisation development approaches that take informal structures and dynamics as a starting point (facilitating emergence).

In my private life, as a father ot two almost-teenagers, I enjoy life in a partnership and a community, both in the city and in a rural context (schmiede-stolzenhagen.de). I am passionate about jazz improvisation and always most impressed when musicians (and people in general) are able to listen.

In all these contexts, I am fascinated by the organic world of systems, the diverse ways they grow and evolve, and the way in which they often simultaneously represent problems and solutions. When working in this field, I consider it a strength to find the balance between creative and structured ways forward.