A word from Liv Cardell
Founder and CEO of Red Matters
During my 30 years as a management consultant I have continuously stumbled upon the need for new ways of working to make an organization more smart in descisionmaking, more unified, valuedriven and innovative. Despite countless of appraisals and smart claims regarding value driven and learning organizations, I have seldom, or next to never, seen this translated into actual strategies and actionable exercises. Red Matters Concept is based on a systemic approach. The literature in the systemic universe is hard for people, not involved in the systemic world, to catch. Thats why I wanted to write a systemic book with a simple language.
Also, complexity is often met with complexity and clients are offered complex tools with attractive slogans and promises which are hard to look through. During the years I have seen stress increase on both employees and managers. The reasons for which decisions are to be made are difficult to understand and the basics of today's decisions are often changed rapidly and irrelevant tomorrow. Human values have fallen into the background and there is a risk that we will chop off the branch we are sitting on.
Like a splinter in my shoe, the lack of pursuit for an exceptional and thriving corporate-culture in order to achieve better results and more profits was mind-blowing, especially as I knew that the concept that was slowly but surely growing in my thoughts could potentially revolutionize the way we see and reach success as a company, as leaders and as individuals. This is why I receded to an isolated island in Greece in 2004. I had to let these somewhat crazy ideas and unorthodox methods reach maturity. Seven years later I published the book and Red Matters Concepts was born. A book about simple tools to deal with complexity and in order to balance efficiency, humanism and innovation within organizations.
My mission is simple, but it is not easy. I want to contribute to a world where companies and organisations truly are "fearless cultures in progress". I want to transmit my concrete tools and simple methods to let values and culture be the core of an improved profitability, and techniques for a more fluent communications in our age of complexity and diversity. I want to prove that a healthy culture with happy, engaging and responsible people will bring improved profits in the long-term. Over and over again, I have seen how the right work-environment can bring out an individuals creativity, endless energy and a will to contribute and improve. This is what I want to give to the world.
The Concepts of Red Matters has been appreciated by amongst others, IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency and is implemented in private as well as govermental organizations.
Björn Ekelund, Human Factors AS in Norway, has developed a test, Diversity Icebreaker, with three preferences for communication and cooperation, which is scientifically endorsed. It uses the same colour domains as Red Matters, which is why we have joined forces and now participate in a Scandinavian Collaboration. We also represent HUMANE, Human Management Network in Skandinavia. Red Matters are also influed by Clas Jensen, David Cooperrider, Findhorn Foundation, Judy Hoffer Gittel, Kennet J Gergen, Paul Moxnes, Tom Andersen, Will Schutz, Humerto Maturana and others.
