Nicole White, Organizational Development Consultant
About Icola Consulting
About
Organizations are complex. When something isn't working, the obvious problem isn't always the real one- and applying the wrong solution can cost time, money, and momentum.
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A retention problem may actually be a leadership problem.
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A communication problem may actually be a trust problem.
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A conflict problem may actually be an accountability problem.
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A culture problem may actually be a systems problem.
Icola Consulting helps organizations understand what's happening, build what they need, and access experienced support when they need it.
My work spans these common areas:
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Fix: I help organizations identify what's working, what's not, and what may be getting in the way through organizational, leadership, and team assessments, feedback, and focused reviews.
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Build: Small business, new organizations, or organizations who have experienced significant change may need to build new systems that support where they are now. I help leaders to develop the leadership capabilities, teams, learning programs, and organizational systems organizations need to perform effectively and adapt to change.
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Improve: As organizations grow, respond to market conditions, or changing times, tried and true processes may need to be refreshed or updated to support stability and growth. I help organizations.
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Humanize: Traditional models of work and organizations can sometimes minimize or miss the importance of people in organizational functioning and success. I help organizations connect their people strategy to real outcomes.
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Evolve: The modern workplace is foundationally different from traditional organizational models. I help organizations think about organization design and systems and how to build for the future.
A Bit About Me
I'm an organizational development and learning professional with:
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20 years inside organizations, in healthcare, nonprofit, telecommunications, and other corporate spaces
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15+ years of training and developing people
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A graduate degree in I/O psychology and an undergraduate degree in business anthropology
My training in industrial-organizational psychology and business anthropology means I look at two things at once: what an organization says it does, and what actually happens.
What I Do
I work at the intersection of organizational psychology, behavioral analysis, and systems thinking to help two distinct groups of people.
For organizations: I diagnose the hidden dynamics that undermine performance, culture, and trust. Not the symptoms. The root causes:
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A retention problem may actually be a leadership problem.
-
A communication problem may actually be a trust problem.
-
A conflict problem may actually be an accountability problem.
-
A culture problem may actually be a systems problem.
From there, we translate organizational behavior into practical decisions leaders can act on. I help you to see what's actually happening so they can make decisions grounded in reality rather than assumption.
The goal isn't to apply a predetermined solution. It's to understand what your organization actually needs and help you move forward with greater clarity, capability, and confidence.
For individuals: I help people navigate workplaces that are complex, compromised, or outright toxic. Whether you're trying to understand what's happening to you, protect yourself while you figure out your next move, or recover from an environment that has done real damage, I provide the clarity, strategy, and support to help you move forward with agency and confidence.
My organizational work is confidential, and nothing from my work with individuals is shared with organizations, or the reverse.
These two sides of my practice are not separate. They're the same problem seen from different vantage points. And understanding both is what makes my work unusually effective at either.
What I Write About
Alongside client work, I write The Workplace Unfiltered, a publication dedicated to naming the dynamics, systems, and behaviors that make workplaces harmful, and giving people the language and frameworks to respond to them.
If you want to understand how I think before deciding whether to work with me, it's the best place to start.
If something here resonates- whether you're an organizational leader trying to understand what's breaking down, or an individual trying to make sense of what you're experiencing- I'd love to hear from you.
My top question- and it's my first and middle names combined- sort of.
I was blessed with one of the most common names known to man, so, naming my business after myself was not possible. And, apparently, there is a popular social media personality that has my same first AND middle name (Nicole Lashae) and has trademarked it.
So, I had to get creative. Essentially, it's still just my name, a popular naming convention among many consultants for their business.
What's an 'Icola'?
By the way.....