Robert Levey says for as long as he can remember he has been philosophical and extremely curious about the world and how he fits into reality. That curiosity was the driving force behind his consulting company Exponential Squared in Center Ossipee.
While Exponential Squared is hired to help with marketing, advancement, development, PR and storytelling, what makes the consulting firm unique is a “systems thinking” approach that Levey combines with his interdisciplinary academic background. He draws from Taoism, Buddism and Ubuntu to take a wholistic approach to solving a business’s challenges. That involves seeing how policies, mission statements, budgets, and staffing all relate.
Levey’s academic background includes a BA in Philosophy, a BS in Organizational Behavior, an MA in English and an MBA. He recently finished a Ph.D. in Transformative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Transformative Studies blends academic disciplines like psychology, philosophy, sociology, and spirituality to explore human experience and potential.
He points to a nonprofit he worked with recently that was losing money on ticket sales with a lecture series they had developed. “Systems thinking allowed me to look beyond what was merely presented before me. I asked them some basic questions. ‘What’s the need for the program? Who determines it? Have you discussed it with the community?’” he says. “They thought they were having a marketing problem but there were other reasons related to meeting the needs of the community and they made changes. Often, the problems organizations have aren’t just marketing problems.”
Levey, who served until recently as the interim director for one of his clients—the American Independence Museum in Exeter—has helped companies and nonprofits with corporate sponsor programs, grant writing, and building budgets. He also helps organizations understand who they are. “If you can’t explain who and what you are and where you’re going, people won’t be able to see that themselves,” he says. “A mission statement explains what and how, but there needs to be precise thinking about the vision.”
“I have a strong belief that knowing something isn’t necessarily a great thing because we then stop being curious,” he says. “With every client I work with I hope to demonstrate the kind of curiosity that will serve them well in their endeavors.”
For more information, visit exponentialsquared.com.