Principles Guiding Our Practice

Participation 
Our engagement with clients, constituents, and/or stakeholders is built around the core principle of participation.  This is to say that Sears Associates sees every interaction as an opportunity to develop collective understanding of issues and needs as well as build ownership of process and outcomes. Experience has shown that such investment not only leverages the best thinking, but it also facilitates group learning and builds support for the implementation of outcomes.

Whole Systems
We understand all circumstances with multiple players and impacts to be occurring within an interdependent sphere of cause and effect. Therefore, we continually encourage participants to see the “big picture” and work in ways that are responsive to the many layers that exist within what may at times seem like just one issue.  This means digging down beyond short-term solutions, and developing an understanding of why and how real change will occur.