In a world of rapid change and novel disruptions, people and businesses increasingly need to be able to make informed decisions quickly in situations with high uncertainty and incomplete information.

A strong strategy executed by the “right” people isn’t enough to achieve desired outcomes in this context. In complexity, outcomes and cultures emerge from how people interact with unpredictable external pressures and each other in real time, not the systems we design.

Tend the Sparks Consulting was founded to help professionals, nonprofits, multi-stakeholder groups, small businesses, government agencies, and companies bridge this gap between strategy and human interaction with skill, creativity, and flexibility.

The result is deliberate problem solving under pressure, thoughtful strategies and experiments that enable responsiveness to change, and colleagues with more awareness and skill in tough situations.

Some common struggles people bring to Tend the Sparks and outcomes it has experience supporting:

• Plans and strategies that look good on paper but no one actually follows → Plans and strategies that are co-created, backed by staff/stakeholder ownership, and useful both day-to-day and looking ahead
• Everything is treated as urgent, creating a vicious cycle of high pressure where priorities are unclear → Priorities are more clear, allowing “urgent” and “important” to be differentiated and discussed as new situations arise
• People and teams feeling burned out, frustrated, overwhelmed → People and teams who are more connected to purpose, each other, and contribute to a positive workplace culture
• Gaps between what needs to be done and a person or team’s capacity to do so → People and teams who communicate more clearly, grow their skills and self-awareness, and stay curious and committed to their own development
• Failing to identify and account for the difference between complicated and complex problems → Identifying complicated vs. complex situations and tailoring responses accordingly
• Decision making lacks transparency and diverse perspectives → Decision making processes are clear and benefit from diverse participation. Decisions are communicated transparently
• Conversations that avoid the real issue → More candid, values-based, generative conversations that help build trust, reveal new possibilities, and advance the work (not all conflict is bad)
• Processes and spaces that don’t account for internal power dynamics/feel performative or out of touch → Processes and spaces that acknowledge and bring more balance to internal power dynamics to support diverse participation

About the Founder

Cheyenne Coxon founded Tend the Sparks Consulting after fifteen years in environmental conservation, almost ten in leadership roles, where she learned to navigate complexity under pressure and help others do the same. In her last institutional role at global environmental nonprofit, Forest Trends, Cheyenne managed a strategic communications team and multidisciplinary projects and became a trusted advisor in staff development and change management.

She was ultimately nominated by senior leadership to lead work on organizational wellbeing, where she navigated competing priorities, resistance to change, and building the trust necessary to engage all staff. She fell in love with personal and organizational development work during this time and decided to step away from roles in science and conservation.

Her strategic consulting, facilitation, and developmental and executive coaching draw on that background, including her practice of biomimicry: applying nature’s patterns, cycles, interconnectedness, and resilience to how people build relationships and strengthen their work.

Cheyenne works with individuals and groups to notice patterns and the stories they tell about themselves and use that information to create stronger connections to purpose and each other, a precondition for the ability to navigate complexity with more confidence. She is based in Portland, Oregon, and available to travel for in-person work.