The Origin Story
What Is Clarity Consulting?
The roots of Venture Clarity Consulting can be traced back to 2005 when as an engineering graduate student, I found myself in an interdisciplinary research group. I was learning of disciplines like organization behaviour, cognitive science, institutional economics, psychology, sociology and trying to find my place in it all.
First Encounter with Interdisciplinarity
The research group I was at, aimed at creating sustainable prosperity. At that time the focus was on researching methods to empower impoverished communities to voice their needs. While undertaking fieldwork, amongst the many things that I learnt, the one that stood out was how development was very one-directional. There was an expectation that those we set out to “help” should become like us, that becoming like us would mean success. However, what it meant to “become like us” was a moving goal post. To an idealistic engineer with ambitions of using her skills to improve the world, this was (and continues to be) an unfair premise. Upon reflection, this experience afforded me the first glimpse of my ethics.
At the lab, I was a young research assistant working alongside researchers and professors who defined disciplines. I had the opportunity to pursue my curiosity from multiple disciplinary perspectives. I was able to identify my ethical imperatives and pursue aesthetic solutions for them. These reflections culminated in my doctoral thesis where I created a design process that allowed designers and members of underserved communities to engage in the design process as equals. I studied how and what designers learnt, what challenges they faced and how to create practices for sustainable engagement.
Learning from real-life experiences is hard
What I found in my research (that was also supported my own experiences) was, that any new creation, even the most technical product, is embedded in a rich and complex socio-economic context. As those who want to interject ourselves, our ideas and creations into an unfamiliar context, it behoves us to understand the local conditions and the implications of our actions as best as we can. I began to investigate more closely how to understand real-life problems in all their complexity without feeling overwhelmed. Real-life situations are fraught with the unexpected making it challenging to deliberate and reflect before acting. Becoming reactionary does not lead to sustainable solutions or learning.
Continuity of learning in challenging spaces
I started experimenting with taking on hard real-world problems by bringing together disparate knowledge sources and a diverse group of people to co-create solutions. While creating new approaches, I continued to research what was learned, how it was learnt and how to make the whole experience safe, meaningful and fun. This exploration of allowing for continued learning in ambiguous spaces culminated in the creation of a course called Global Engineers’ Education (GEE) offered through the Mechanical Engineering Department at Stanford University. It went on to win an award from the National Academy of Engineering for being outstanding in teaching engineering ethics through practice.
Venture Clarity Consulting — the latest chapter
Conversations with friends and former students of mine made me recognize the application of the GEE approach to forging professional journeys. That was the beginning of Venture Clarity Consulting. VCC aims to enable every client to create a professional journey that is anchored in their vision and values. It is to put into practice their ideals creatively, pragmatically and efficiently. VCC aims to equip its clients with the tools necessary to navigate the uncertainty they encounter from a place of confidence in skills, conviction and courage to acknowledge and address weaknesses. Ultimately it is about being open to learning about yourself and others and finding meaning by balancing personal ethics and aesthetics.
I would be delighted to work with you and invest in yourself as a venture! Together we can enable you to move forward with courage, confidence and conviction that you can practice your values and realize your vision for yourself.