Welcome to Tipu Ake

Feedback - what users say:

“The Living System Thinking approach is one of great wisdom and practical application. When we are working in the field of sustainability we are growing businesses organically which requires natural steps and organic processes. Living systems survival depends on diversity - this is a basic building block and one that capitalism has ignored.. The Tipu Ake ki te Ora Organic Leadership Model reinforced for me, that my thinking is in flow with the Living Systems approach and those of us that feel the connection with nature understand this empirical knowledge. Based on the principles of collaboration and through guidance and mastery we can redirect the traffic. We can only do this together as a breathing living network so join the club, it's free and it’s based on mutual support and generosity.”

Emma and I attended the two day 'Living Systems Thinking' workshop.
It was exactly the springboard we needed to move our current community project up to the next steps and beyond! Our systems are now far more polished and we feel incredibly confident about our impending public presentation. With all of the strategies we learnt so rapidly through Peters poignant teachings, and particularly his focus on the outcomes of the project at hand, we feel we can easily conquer the workload ahead decisively and effectively. A most highly recommended course in a comfortable and stimulating group learning environment.

After exposure to the TipuAke framework through the two day Living Systems Thinking course run by Peter Goldsbury - your life will never be the same! You will have confidence to put forward your ideas/project/business or strategic plan. It will lead to a greater understanding of why and how we can use our networks better and improve real outcomes. There is the opportunity to be revitalised with fresh ideas and insight, as well as critical comment in a neutral environment. The workshop has relevance for business and community participants and the skills learnt can been used the next day.

Emma Williamson, The Kai Raku ( Food Trees) Project , Sustainable Paremoremo - July 2010

For a student of social change like myself, the workshop let me bring along my own ideas, put them to the test and walk away with new ways of thinking about the life cycle of social change in a world of living systems.

Rendt Gorter a post graduate student at the School of Geography, University of Auckland who
participated on a Living Systems Thinking workshop 16-17 April 2008. Read his full report

I came across Tipu Ake ki te Ora some years ago when I was designing a Leadership programme at EIT - the Eastern Institute of Technology in Napier, where I was then lecturing. Since my students were largely Maori and Pacific Island women that year it made no sense to teach only white American male models of leadership. I was delighted by the model and all the work that had been done on it, and so were the students. I taught it then and have continued to do so whenever teaching leadership. This included a course a colleague and I ran for inmates in the HB Prison Maori Focus Unit. They loved the model, related to it powerfully and it made sense of a lot of their experience. For example, one person said, "That's us, in the dark, seeds, hoping the warmth will draw us out". Such a powerful image to work with and explore further. I love also having an organic model, related to nature, and not just to human minds. I love its rich imagery which is so soulful for people. I love the cyclical nature of the image which allows us to acknowledge decline and death as part of life and leadership.

Lani Morris

Isobelle Gosling PMP, PMI Wellington Branch Team, June 2002

The concept of "collective sensing" had most impact on our staff attending courses based on the Tipu Ake model. We chose the course after checking out various options with an eye to helping our people better themselves as part of a team in the [project management] process.

Rhonda Sullivan, learning specialist at ASB Bank, Jan 2002

We are impressed at how the lifecycle metaphor works as a focusing tool throughout the life of a project and gave Te Whaiti a common understanding of what they wanted to achieve.

Brendan O Connell, Project Development Manager, marine group at Navman (formerly Talon Technology) Jan 2002

I'm not one for following fads or flavours of the month and as I have over the years been exposed to all sorts of leadership and project management theory and models. I am pretty sceptical. However, so far I am impressed by this model which is a synthesis of internationally accepted good practice and the approach that the Maori community at Te Whaiti took to turning around their failing school.

This is a great model for using an indigenous process in a business setting. It has created a lot of interest at the Auckland University of Technology, offering an alternative way of achieving goals and managing projects in a holistic way that honours Maori. Tipu Ake draws on the beautiful examples of Aotearoa's ecosystems as a way for us to work collectively to become fulfilled individuals and communities.

Andrew Melville, University Relations, AUT, Oct 2002

I visited your website and I am intrigued with your model and its deep cultural origins. I would be interested in hearing more about how the model plays out in organizations. Yes I believe you are correct that a distributed leadership approach is compatible with The Extremophile Response.(See supporting stories)

Eileen Clegg, Research Affiliate, Institute for the Future, USA, Oct 2002

I enjoyed the chance to explore new ideas and to get a framework to manage my ideas without being constrained by it - e.g. Tipu Ake

The thought leadership of in the area of viewing how an organisation really operates was excellent. The Tipu Ake model helps give a framework that encompasses all of life, not just work

Anonymous appraisals from two people on PM workshops 23-26 Sep 2002

I am greatly impressed by the Tipu Ake Lifecycle because I believe this model offers our organizations a unique way of getting the best out of the scientific method and the oral traditions. As Capra puts it «...human language, being of a symbolic nature, centrally involves the communication of meaning, and (...) human action flows from the meaning that we attribute to our surroundings». That is why the holistic Maori concept of Ora and its values is crucial if we hope to succeed in dealing with global environmental and social issues.

Andree Mathieu, Quebec, Canada May 2004

As I lose my attachment to my "old" knowledge and move on, the new opportunities pop up. The type of opportunities reflect where I am at in my understandings. There seems to be deep metaphysical principles at work that the Te Whaiti people knew about which we are only just getting in-touch with. We have much to learn. The scientific thinking now emerging from quantum physics suggests that all reality is a hologram, implying we are all interacting together as one which takes us much closer to how life works and why Tipu Ake works.

Christopher Evatt, Poovoo, Finland 2004

"This was the best session I attended at 2004 PMI. I am OD’d on process and ingenuity. I need the effective vs. efficient distinction. Absolutely will follow up on the web site"

"Very interesting, non-traditional approach. I understand if others did not like it. Not everyone is ready/likes non-conforming approaches. I really enjoyed. It is thought provoking. Thank you".

"Greatly appreciated. Refreshing innovative session. Stimulates thinking."

Anonymous feedback after paper at PMI Global Forum , Anahiem Oct 2004

"In the plane I used the time to study your Tipu Ake paper , which I found quite interesting as due to my experience in most large organisations the spirit is quite opposite to the Tipu Ake approach. It seems to me that the main reason for that is that in general people in such organisations always have in mind their particular individual objectives but not a joint one. This leads in the very next step to a syndrome, I like to call : "This is outside your responsibility, we don't handle this!", i.e. proposals from other persons/departments on how to solve a problem will not be accepted. (You can call it also: "Not invented here"). I'm not quite sure whether this is an outcome of the western approach that everybody has to be measured by his personal achievements instead of what the team he/she is in has achieved, but I guess that this type of thinking we are establishing already in children's' heads is the real problem. (By the way, this would explain, why team management without so-called leadership is not really accepted as a value contribution in our economics ...) "

Klaus Vernie, Germany. www.dagama-sourcing.de Jan 2005

"Most valuable - would recommend it to colleagues as it would be useful as a regular refresher for experienced PM's. People who could benefit include Analysts, Managers, Support/Corporate Coordinators and could be used for new project teams to focus on the top view etc"

"Great Course, very practical and timely for my job, very relevant for Policy people"

"The collaborative nature of the workshop helped me think outside my own industry / job to see other ways of thinking"

Participants on a PMSkills Workshop Wellington April 2007 (where Tipu Ake was included)

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