The mission
Herschel Hardin Associates works exclusively on public-interest projects that help create a more democratic and egalitarian society and
that strengthen creativity in Canada, both locally and
nationally. Eligible clients include governments and
government agencies, labour unions, NGOs, crown corporations and co-operatives, cultural organizations, local non-profit societies and community economic development organizations. Only in rare circumstances, where it is satisfied that a firm is genuinely socially responsible, will
Herschel Hardin Associates work for a privately owned corporation or other private business.
Our leading interest currently is helping organizations
with the development of strategic thinking. We explore
with our clients how to change the frame the perspective, environment, ideology, or context, as you wish in which they strive to reach their objectives. Without such
framework change they are usually handcuffed, whatever their resources and energy. (For more on this, see the feature commentary,
The Need for Strategic Thinking, and the
Workshop on Strategic Thinking.)
The principal
Herschel
Hardin brings to bear unique qualities for work on strategic
development intellectual breadth and diversity, multi-area
expertise, an iconoclastic and creative mind, and experience
in strategic planning going back 45 years.
Specialized expertise ranges across several key economic, business, political, media, cultural, and activist areas, among them:
The frame
Ideology, politics and advocacy
Media power and politics
Resource allocation between private and public sectors
Impact of culture on economics, society and sustainability
Advertising and marketing, and their power of propaganda
Business and economics
Economic and business history
Entrepreneurship and the history of economic creativity
Crown corporations (state enterprise)
Credit unions and the co-operative movement
Privatization
Corporations and the corporate business scene
Rate regulation/financial analysis
Organizing and governance
Grassroots organization and activism
Small organization development
Governance and planning
Presentations and services
Herschel Hardin Associates is a full-service public-policy and public-interest consultancy,
offering the following products and services:
Speeches to conferences, conventions and management
groups
Herschel Hardin is available for bookings for major speeches
on his areas of
specialization and for
appearances on selected panels. Sample topics
include the ideological downgrading
of the public sector (and what might be
done about it), waste and folly in the private sector
revisited, community (or
"socially
rooted" enterprise), and left-wing populism gone missing.
Workshops, seminars, studies and facilitation
Feature workshop on strategic thinking
Strategic
planning facilitation
Studies,
briefs, reports and analytical papers (research,
documentation,
critical analysis, development of
options) touching on areas of specialization
Customized seminars on those subject areas
Political strategy and advocacy
Governance and management assistance
Business plans and budgets
Grassroots organizational development assistance
Governance advice and problem-solving Herschel Hardin biography
Books by Herschel Hardin
For
bookings or for additional details in any of the above areas, please
contact our office.
Special consultancy: serious mental
illness, related public policy and implementation
Herschel Hardin Associates, through the personal involvement of
Herschel Hardin and of wife and associate Marguerite Hardin,
triggered by their son's struggle with schizophrenia, has developed unique expertise in key areas
of severe mental illness, related public policy, and the
delivery of mental health services. The expertise
derives first of all from their being family members
(those with a seriously mentally ill relative), and hence bringing with them a critical
independence from mental health services, and, second,
from intensive work and advocacy in the field over a
span of 30 years.
This special consultancy is of particular value to
provincial governments and policy makers;
mental-health-service managers;clinical heads;
curriculum committees (medicine, psychiatry, and psychiatric
nursing programs); organizations
representing those with an illness and/or their families,
and family members themselves.
Key areas of expertise
System failures and their solutions
Negotiating the system
Family involvement
Information sharing
Involuntary admission; common misinterpretations; its proper
implementation
Crisis intervention and emergency services
The experience of family members and those with an illness
Pro-active approaches to treatment
Politics of mental health (including coverage
of such phenomena as the anti-
psychiatry lobby and mission creep)
Intentional communities with therapeutic or developmental
objectives
For more detailed background, please
contact our office. See, also,
Commentaries/Miscellaneous for selected articles.
Workshops and services
For governments and mental health
services
Consulting and/or in-depth
analytical workshops on the above subjects
Participation in strategic planning
Developing accountability and changes in system culture to
reduce
system failures and avoidable
tragedies
For faculties of
medicine, departments of psychiatry, and psychiatric nursing
schools
Classes and workshops on the
above subjects
Curriculum consulting;
development of new training modules and/or
amplification of applicable existing modules
For family members
One-on-one family peer crisis counselling; negotiating the
system (free)
Ongoing one-on-one family
peer support
Related organizations
Marguerite Hardin Schizophrenia Foundation. The
Foundation, with grants and projects, focuses on
key strategic issues, among them a proactive approach to
treatment and care, involvement of family members as an
integral part of the treatment team, and the development of
peer family support. Website:
www.mhsf.ca.
Riverview Village Intentional Community Society (RVICS).
RVICS has developed a ground-breaking model to help those
serious mental illness: an intentional community of those
with an illness and those without, living integrated
together. The
model was developed for the səmiq̓ʷəʔelə/Riverview Lands,
whose future is still under discussion.
RVICS provides, as well, a dedicated consultancy for
such projects. Website:
www.riverviewvillage.ca. |
