(From an article by Mary Zacaroli in the Oxford Times In Business magazine, February 2007)

 

Mark Arnold is leading an eventful life. There can be few, if any, training and development consultants who have managed a major project in Pakistan with armed guards outside their front doors, been a business advisor to small businesses in Papua New Guinea or set up a programme in the United States to help people with learning disabilities find jobs.

 

In 1991, Mr. Arnold set up Big Difference Consulting and has been using all the skills he learned in these previous jobs to great effect.

 

The company trains and coaches people at all levels in areas such as leadership, team building, sales, customer service, negotiation, strategic and change management, creative thinking and problem solving.

 

It was while working in Papua New Guinea that Mr. Arnold discovered what for him is the key to good training.

 

He explained: "I helped people gain confidence to stand on their own two feet, so rather than doing stuff for them, I got them to think things through."

 

By the time Mr. Arnold got to Pakistan in the late 1980s as director for the Austrian Relief Committee, he was able to see how well such an approach worked. He was managing 300 people and organising training programmes for Afghans to take over relief and development projects.

 

"I noticed that by giving people responsibility while giving them all the support they needed actually works. It's like planting seeds and letting them run with them. You get people who are really motivated and committed."

 

"A lot of my work is about helping people deal with their perceptions of others and events that feel very real," he said.

"We put meanings on everything and whatever interpretation we put on something affects the way we act."

What Mr. Arnold helps people realise that their interpretations may feel very real but may not be the truth."

 

He said: "I use the analogy of a parrot on the shoulder. Sometimes I give everyone in the room an inflatable parrot to represent their inner voice which is constantly making interpretations.

"If people recognise their interpretations as their own, they are more likely to be able to have a meaningful conversation with others who may have different interpretations."

 

The parrot concept has been so successful that he has often gone back to companies some time later and found that the parrot has become part of the company culture.

 

Big Difference Consulting consists of 30 consultants, all self-employed.

"I think that's a plus, because they are all experienced in running their own businesses and are successful people in their own right."

 

Mr. Arnold said he has never had to advertise for business. "Most of it comes through people who have used us before. They move on to a different company and then take us with them. This is the best way for us to grow."

 

In recent years coaching and e-learning have become growth areas. Coaching used to just be for top executives, but now it is being used at all levels.

 

Mr. Arnold said: "I do a lot of work with people in organisations who feel that they are stuck or browbeaten by their bosses, or have teams they can't motivate or control, and I feel their job is often a lot more difficult than top management's.

 

"They feel more pressured and so a lot of my work is about giving them a few more tools to achieve their goals and communicate better."

 

His client base is diverse, ranging from large international concerns such as Balfour Beatty to local organisations such as the Oxford Playhouse.

 

The company also has contracts abroad, often in the developing world.

 

He said: "This business for me is all about results, getting real change, which is why I called it Big Difference Consulting."