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HYBRID THINKING™

We define our anti-disciplinary approach as the combination of management consulting, design thinking, technology and culture shaping.

THE DISRUPTION OF 2000

When our founders conceived the company nearly twenty years ago, we realized that pixels were about to change the way almost any global business would function in the near future. Technology was rapidly revolutionizing the way problems were solved. At the same time, business challenges were mutating into highly complex issues no longer rooted in a single cause, but fueled by a combination of disciplines.

Stories are the foundation of change.

While the concept of design thinking had already become part of the popular lexicon in contemporary management science, we realized we could no longer compartmentalize disciplines—strategic, creative, cultural or technological—as separate ideologies.

BLENDING DISCPLINES

We believe management challenges cannot be studied in isolation from technological bottlenecks, or PR communications pitfalls. Our solution has been to combine management consulting with design thinking, leveraging technology and shaping culture. These four distinctly different disciplines are not typically deployed under one roof.

Our manifesto mandates us to abolish disciplines in thinking and conduct no matter what the challenge.

The freedom to approach a given objective from any conceivable direction allowed us to start working with clients, for example, on a product prototype, leading to re-engineering their internal processes, back to developing a communication strategy, onwards to helping with fundraising and co-investing in a new venture, followed by setting up data platforms for real-time insight, and building memorable narratives and brands through stories, digital tools and culture-shaping.

20 years later

Over nearly two decades, and through thousands of engagements and over a hundred investments, we have learnt that instead of defining our companies, teams and people by who we are..

it is better to define ourselves by who we are not.

We often say we are not an agency, not a consulting firm, not a technology vendor and not an academy. Our teams have written, published and shared extensively on the approach of hybrid thinking while deploying the anti-disciplinary model across nearly every engagement solving challenges for governments or startups alike.

READ OUR VIEWS

We follow five key principles.

RELEVANT IRRELEVANCE

We hire people that have studied (or dropped-out) something irrelevant to their role at Xische. Their aptitude and experience will trump all else. They approach their roles and the client's challenges with disruptive relevance.

MAKE EVERY IDEA COUNT

We think no idea is a stupid idea. We present often, even if only one idea flies, it's worth the twelve that crashed. Every employee participates in brainstorming sessions, whether it’s a designer, strategist or the receptionist.

SMALLER IS MEANINGFUL

We've deliberately always retained a small but potent team. We detest the prospect of ever growing into a factory. Clients value the team's passion and cultural diversity. We delete irrelevance compulsively, especially in the work we do.

EVERY DAY IS A FIRST

We evolve; everyday. It's not easy, but we refuse projects that are monotonous or exactly the same as something we've done. We deploy learnings from one industry to another. It allows us to break new ground and never rest on accepted formulae alone.

ENTREPRENEURIAL

We constantly find ways to not get paid what we sign off on. We invest in each project, and wherever possible, partner with clients. It costs them less upfront, and we prefer to leverage our success for higher returns.

We love connecting disconnected industries, solutions, ideas and disciplines that don't normally fuse together.