The human side of change · for Canadian manufacturers
Getting your people to trust the change, share what they know, and lead through it — that's what decides whether any of it sticks. That's our work.
or call 778‑985‑OPEN (6736)
The part most consultants skip
Because the new way asks people to change — and people don't resist change to be difficult. They resist it because it threatens something: their standing, their habits, the thing that's made them the one everyone relies on. The veteran who won't quite share what he knows. The supervisor who nods in the meeting and does it the old way Monday morning. The blame that starts flying the first time something goes wrong.
None of that is a character flaw. It's how people work — and it's the part that decides whether your investment pays off or sits on a shelf.
One business, two sides
Open Communications is the human side of ShopWisdom. ShopWisdom builds the systems that keep a shop running when your best people leave. We make sure the people actually use them — and come through the change stronger, not fractured.
Same business. Same straight talk. One side works on the shop; the other works with the crew.
How we work
The kind you can use in a hallway conversation, not just a workshop.
A shared lens
In any tense moment, you're either above the line — open, curious, willing to learn — or below it — closed, defensive, out to be right. Once a team can name where they are, the hard conversations get easier overnight.
A shared, plain-spoken way to handle friction.
The core shift
Every shop runs the drama triangle: someone stuck as the victim, someone persecuting and blaming, someone rescuing and burning out. It kills change. We move people into the empowered version — a creator who owns the outcome, a challenger who calls it straight, a coach who builds others up.
Stop the blame cycles that stall every change.
Coaching · succession
One-to-one coaching for the people carrying the weight: the owner planning his exit, the successor stepping into big shoes, the veteran working out what it means to let go. Booked in single sessions, around your calendar.
The people at the center don't crack under it.
Every engagement is built around coordinated hours — never a stretch of days that swallows your week.
Where it starts
Every hard conversation starts here. In any tense moment you're either open and curious — or closed and out to be right. Naming where you're standing is half the work.
The “above / below the line” model is from The Conscious Leadership Group — Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman & Kaley Warner Klemp, The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership (2014).
The pattern underneath
Not a workshop you sit through — a lens for what's happening in the room. Under pressure, people fall into three roles that stall change. The work is moving them into the three that carry it.
The Drama Triangle is the work of Dr. Stephen Karpman (1968). The Empowerment Dynamic (TED*) is the work of David Emerald.
Who we are
Our change practice is led by Michael Victory, with Inga Michaelsen as co-facilitator.
Michael Victory
Michael carries the through-line across both sides of the business — he knows the shop and the crew, and brings the same rigor to people that ShopWisdom brings to systems.
Inga Michaelsen
A Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and Team Coach (ACTC) with the International Coaching Federation, Inga designs experiential leadership work at Royal Roads University. Her depth in trauma-informed, systems-aware coaching is the backbone of how we work.
The rigor to build something that works. The soul to make people actually want to use it.
Start a conversation
No pitch, no program to sign up for. Just a straight talk about what's getting in the way and whether we can help.
Prefer to reach out directly?
Email Michael Call 778‑985‑OPEN (6736)
The first conversation is free and commits you to nothing.