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Signet supports
leaders who recognize that their organization faces environments that
are more dynamic, complex and competitive every day – and therefore their organization must
drive itself to become ever smarter and more resilient. We also support networks of organizations that are taking on large, persistent challenges in our society.
A defining characteristic of organizations that adapt and thrive in a challenging environment is that they actively tap into people's intelligence, passion and resourcefulness, at both an individual and team level. Yet there are many structures and habits commonly found in our workplaces that somehow choke off this great natural resource.
Where leaders at every level see it at their job to shape the conditions for this resourcefulness to emerge, agility and resilience emerge.
The difference that makes the difference is whether people learn in the course of performing their work every day, and whether they do it in a way that makes the organization more adaptive.
Though such transformations don’t occur overnight, they come about largely through a clear intention by leaders combined with adjustments in the small disciplines built into everyday work. Being a learning organization is a matter of culture and of tools. We have a great deal of experience assisting organizations with both, and serve as subject matter experts (SME’s) and as thinking partners for leaders.
Signet's approach is to help leaders accelerate results today
while simultaneously building adaptive capacity for tomorrow. We pride ourselves on the way we work as thinking partners
for our clients, leveraging existing strengths to build
their capacity to raise the bar on performance and
produce greater success and resilience.
Our methods are pragmatic and research-based, and set organizations up to continue getting better at getting better, long
after we have done our part in transmitting and growing the practices to maturity.
Signet's clients come from all sectors – commercial, civic, government and academic. Our team can provide design consultation, skills demonstrations, facilitation, education and coaching services as needed to address the unique situation, needs and vision your organization has.
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Marilyn Darling founded Signet in 1989 to conduct research and consulting in strategies
for corporate learning. Beginning in 1997, Marilyn partnered
with Charles Parry to conduct research on highly successful organizational learning
and leadership practices, focused particularly on the After Action
Review at the U.S. Army’s National
Training Center, where it was created. The principles and tools of Emergent
Learning spring from that research. Prior to founding Signet, Marilyn
was president of Learning to Learn, Inc., which provided critical
thinking skills programs to corporate and university clients. She
serves on the Board of Visitors of James Madison College, a highly
regarded college of public affairs at Michigan State University.
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Charles Parry maps the tacit strategies of top performing leaders and teams, and leverages these insights for the benefit of clients. Charles is expert in building the AAR/Action Review Cycle into the operations of corporations. His success in translating research into practical applications began with pioneering work on skill development and peak performance strategies of elite athletes. It continues today in research on the leadership and improvement habits that create the conditions for organizations to thrive even in the face of world-class competition. He has taught change strategies to Six Sigma Black Belts, developed courses on topics such as Difficult Conversations, and advanced the skills of many hundreds of facilitators.
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Colonel (Retired) Joseph A. Moore,
Jr. commanded the 3,000 soldiers
of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the unit serving as the OPFOR
(Opposing Force) at the National Training Center. All other
Army brigades must fight against OPFOR in order to prove–and improve–their readiness.
Joe led the OPFOR through an historic transition from
replicating Soviet-style forces into flexible forces capable of
winning in the fluid environments of Iraq and Afghanistan. His
depth at the NTC included being an Observer/Controller on two
tours, and Chief of Plans and Operations, developing
and supervising the execution of the intense battle scenarios through which every visiting unit is tested and developed.
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Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Mark Pires is an expert on the Army’s After Action Review methods for shaping teams into learning organizations. Mark has extensive expertise in mentoring up and coming junior leaders to achieve their maximum potential. He is a 20-year veteran of the United States Army and a West Point graduate. Mark commanded an armor battalion consisting of 58 M1A1 tanks,
550 soldiers, 160 support vehicles, and equipment valued over $150 million. His earlier postings included being Chief of
Plans for an entire Army division. Mark's many awards and decorations
included the Legion of Merit and five Meritorious Service Medals.
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Bruce Boggs remains a partner in spirit. Bruce passed away unexpectedly this year, a great loss to all who knew or worked with him. [Read obituary]
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