Questions? Give us a call!

+61 (0) 415 416 715 (Maike)
+61 (0) 468 831 082 (Rob)

Questions? Give us a call!

+61 (0) 415 416 715 (Maike)
+61 (0) 468 831 082 (Rob)

who we are

Gonpo

New Work Realists

We are a boutique consultancy organisation based in Canberra. We offer organisational and leadership development solutions grounded in an understanding of systems theory. Our approach is tailored to meet the unique needs of each client, ensuring impactful and sustainable outcomes.

How we see ourselves

Guides to the organisation

When you arrive in an unknown country, full of attractions and opportunities but also many tourist traps and street scammers, you hope to find a reputable tourist office. It should offer a plethora of offers, trustworthy expert service, and flexible advice, plus scores of options for standard day tours and multi‐month journeys—the perfect travel guide and outfitter.

The current market is such an unknown country, with evolving paradigms and shifting boundaries. It's a landscape where traditional economic models are being challenged, and new forms of value creation are constantly emerging. Here, the rules of the game are not just being rewritten; they're being reimagined.

We see ourselves as the trusted tourist guides for this unknown country. We see ourselves as guides to the organisation.

This is us

Maike Brill

I grew up in a small village in northern Germany, a stone's throw from the Dutch border. As a child I crossed the border on my pony for the thrill of it, as a teenager for the fashion, and as a young adult for cigarettes and nightclubs.

But that is not where I met Rob.

Robert Sok

I was born and raised on the Dutch side of the same border, growing up absorbing the German language through television, mainly the weekly sport's shows and the German crime shows, and after my studies I moved to Germany.

But that is not where I met Maike.

We finally met many years later at a meditation course in the south of Spain. Not long after (in 1999), we moved to Australia together. Rob was first working as a post-doc at the ANU and Maike as a health practitioner, but about 20 years ago, we put our heads together to embark on a new journey built on our shared interest in organisational and human potential, of which the latest waypoint is 'GONPO'.

Get to know us better!  
Our Principles
Value Creation First
principle #1

Organisations are created to produce value. In the process of doing so, sometimes the focus on its value creation is replaced by a focus on internal references, which creates unnecessary drag. Organisation gain vitality if they shift their focus to how their problems are related to their value creation.

We help organisations to maintain or regain their focus.

Look at What Works
principle #2

Often, for an organisation it is just as useful to figure out what is working and why this is so, rather than trying to fix some problem.

We favour a holistic approach over a pathological one.

Culture follows Success
principle #3

Organisational culture is a good indicator of how well the organisation has adapted to its main challenges, but it cannot be changed deterministically. Culture is like the shadow of the organisational structure and history.

When we focus on creating successful organisational structures within which people can do real work, good culture will follow.

Learn by Doing
principle #4

Organisations are complex social systems and will react to impulses based on its own internal logic. As such, nobody can control or predict how they will react to change initiatives.

Interventions in the dynamics of organisations are always experiments.

If possible, go slow. What is the smallest possible experiment we can expect results from?

Careful, Personalisation!
principle #5

Organisations need to recognise the connection between structure and behavioural patterns.

"As long as culprits (or heroes) are needed to explain a situation, it is not yet understood." —Gerard Wohland, student of Niklas Luhmann

We need to keep looking for beyond‐personal patterns to describe a situation.

Some Conflicts are Functional
principle #6

Conflicts come in many shapes and forms and not all are necessary dysfunctional or avoidable. Some tensions, and their possibly ensuing conflicts, are natural to the structures of the organisation.

Knowing which conflicts are functional and which dysfunctional—and how to deal with each—is an important success predictor.

Start from a Shared Understanding
principle #7

The difference between 'known' and 'known to be known' is crucial! Unclear definitions and a lack of clarity in the mutual expectations can significantly hinder an organisation's momentum.

We strive to create a shared reality from which dreams can be realised.