Helia’s Discovery 360: Getting Clear on What's Actually Going On
Summary
Ever wished you had a way to really understand what's happening in your organization – beyond the surface-level stuff? Helia’s Discovery360 is a practical assessment tool that helps gather honest, meaningful feedback from everyone in your organization through surveys and focused conversations. It's especially valuable for new leaders, times of change, or when you're feeling stuck and need to cut through the noise.
What’s in it for you:
You want to understand what's really going on in your organization, not just what shows up in traditional reports
You need authentic feedback from your whole team to inform strategic decisions
You're tired of looking outside for answers when the folks closest to the work probably have the best ideas
You want concrete next steps—on both strengths and growth opportunities—that can guide real organizational change
Helia’s Perspective
Have you ever watched Undercover Boss? Okay, I might not have seen it, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the concept! There's so much happening in our organizations that we don’t know enough about—maybe because we're too busy, maybe because we haven’t prioritized asking, maybe because we think we know it all, maybe because there are too many power dynamics in the way. Sometimes a little "we're just moving through" is fine, but most of the time, getting curious and really listening to understand is one of the MOST important things we can do as leaders.
Your team knows so much. And the greatest power is in asking—not just your team, but other stakeholders, too. We want to engage, we want to hear and listen and know... but it's also wildly daunting. Maybe we're worried we'll learn things we don't want to deal with, or maybe we're just going to do our thing anyway?
I promise that knowing and asking is always the right thing. Folks feel seen and heard and engaged. And you always learn more, whether you end up validating your hunches or expanding possibilities in ways you hadn't thought of before.
Over the past 20 years, there have been days where I've felt wildly in-touch at work, and days where I've felt like I'm flying completely in the dark. I've made every assumption you can imagine—blaming systems, people, teams, products, leadership. It's never just one thing, but it can be so tempting! I learned that deep listening is the key to cutting through the noise, but I never found a tool that guided me from listening all the way through action.
Well, necessity is the mother of invention. Last year, Helia built and began testing the Discovery360. It's still evolving, but we're learning a lot and it's helping!
When to Use the Discovery360
This tool works beautifully in specific moments—some feel like a MUST, others are just when you feel called to dig deeper:
The MUST moments:
Starting somewhere new – Whether you're a new leader, consultant, or team member, this helps you understand the lay of the land fast
Going into any planning or change process – Before you set strategy, make big decisions, or shift direction, you need to know where you actually are
Feeling stuck or uncertain – When something feels off but you can't put your finger on what
When you feel called to use it:
Things feel good but you want to build on strengths – Not everything has to be about problems! Sometimes you just want to understand what's working so you can do more of it
You're curious about stakeholder perspectives – Customers, partners, donors, volunteers—when you want to hear from folks beyond your immediate team
Before major transitions: Leadership changes, growth phases, or big strategic shifts
We've used it several times now across different types of organizations and moments, and we keep learning what works best. The key is that this isn't just a one-time assessment—it becomes a foundation you can return to whenever you need clarity.
While they don’t use the Discovery360 as is, Masumoto Family Farms has built INCREDIBLE ways of working with their customers at every turn. They’re always asking + listening for ideas (“let’s do a children’s book!”, partnering with a baby food provider) AND they are present at every opportunity. The result? They’ve built an incredible (and now kind of famous!) multigenerational farm with the BEST peaches + nectarines! Photo = Jess + her mom/sis with Mas at their Adopt a Tree weekend!).
What this looks like in practice
The Discovery360 boils down to five steps that create a continuous feedback loop between listening deeply and taking meaningful action. Here's what we've learned works best:
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We always want to hear the most perspectives possible. Think team members at every level, but also customers, partners, volunteers, donors, alumni—the list goes on! In honor of the theme of a 360, we start with surveys that go to EVERYONE who touches your work in meaningful ways.
Helia Hack: To encourage participation, we generally join a team meeting and do a "live facilitation" of the survey where we walk through the questions as folks answer independently on their computers. It's a game changer!
Here's where it gets exciting—you can use AI to help analyze hundreds or even thousands of responses. No more drowning in spreadsheets or trying to manually find patterns. AI can quickly identify themes, sentiments, and trends across large datasets, which means this approach scales beautifully whether you have 20 or 2,000 respondents.
Then, after identifying themes (hello, AI analysis!), we go deeper with about six 30-minute interviews or focus groups with thoughtfully selected participants to understand what we're hearing. We never share questions or themes in advance—we prefer to hear initial live reactions.
NOTE: The D360 sweet spot is for organizations or teams of 10-250ish. So, you could use this for a 17-person organization, 50-100 volunteers/partners OR a 500 person team.
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We frame everything around identifying what's working—I'm a big fan of building on what works. Don't worry, folks will always share what needs to be better!
Here's why this matters: When you start with problems, people get defensive or shut down. When you start with strengths, they light up and tell you what they care about most. Plus, you learn what's already working that you can do more of, instead of just focusing on what's broken.
This strengths-focused approach includes starting every survey and conversation with questions like:
What's the "secret sauce" of your organization?
When do you feel your team is operating at its best?
What makes you proud to work here?
The energy shift is immediate, and their answers tell you so much about what's working AND what matters to them. Then, when you get to the harder questions, folks are already engaged and thinking generously about the organization.
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We love using open-ended questions to let folks go where their energy naturally takes them. Consider tenure, department, role, identity, generation, lived experience when selecting who to interview, and ask the same questions to each participant.
Some of our favorite approaches:
Using the "I Like, I Wish, I Wonder" method (courtesy of Larkin Tackett and Maya Consulting!)
Asking folks to get specific: What is ONE thing you would like the organization to focus on for the next 3-6 months? Why?
The magic is in listening for themes across different conversations. They'll tell you exactly where to focus.
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We recommend sharing the findings publicly across the organization with leadership committing to 1-2 immediate things they will do based on what they learned. This shows you're not just collecting feedback—you're actually responding to it.
Then, create space for team members at all levels to suggest additional responses or action steps. Where it makes sense, implement some of those things to build trust and show that input from throughout the organization is valued.
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This assessment isn't just a one-time exercise—it becomes a tool that can inform annual planning, retreat prep, department meetings, or whenever you're making big decisions. By regularly referring back to these findings, you demonstrate an ongoing commitment to embracing the truth about your organizational culture and moving toward growth.
Secret Sauce & Takeaways
After using this approach across different organizations and contexts, here's what makes the difference:
Ask before you assume – Your team and stakeholders know more than you think; starting with questions always beats starting with solutions
Survey wide, interview deep – Cast the widest net possible, then use AI to find themes and focus your conversations where they'll matter most
Share back and act – The magic isn't in collecting feedback, it's in showing people you heard them by doing something concrete
Jess with a WISE human, Sujata Narayan, who taught her EARLY in her career that taking the time to hear from others — asking the questions, making the space — is very much ALWAYS worth it (even when she wants to be driving ahead and getting things done!). Note: Jess has had to be reminded of this over and over and over by countless wise humans (Pat Donovan, Emmy DeFigueiredo, Liz Mills to name a few), and Sujata gets some of the original credit!!!
Questions to ask yourself
When was the last time I asked instead of assumed? What if my team already knows exactly what we need to do differently?
What would I discover if I went "undercover boss" in my own organization tomorrow?
Am I hearing from everyone who touches our work—team, stakeholders, community— or just the usual voices?
If I learned something uncomfortable about our organization, would I actually be willing to change it?
Want to Try This?
Having the right tools at the right time makes all the difference. Here are resources we've developed:
Templates & Guides:
Getting Started Guide – Your step-by-step roadmap to your first Discovery360
Sample Survey Questions – Ready-to-use questions that consistently uncover meaningful feedback
Sample Project Plan – Timeline and task breakdown to keep your assessment on track
Sample Report – See how findings get transformed into concrete recommendations
Recommended Reads:
UnderCover Boss – CEO of 7-Eleven goes undercover
Radical Candor by Kim Scott – Not explicitly about 360 Feedback, but on the critical importance of feedback in general. A favorite of Helia’s COO, Libby Fischer.
Connections
Courtesy of Larkin Tackett and Maya Consulting, we use the "I Like, I Wish, I Wonder" approach to gather general thoughts
If you need help applying this to your organization, reach out to hello@theheliacollective.com and we're happy to explore how we might support!
About the Contributor
After two decades of making assumptions and getting surprised by what she didn't know, Jess Skylar has learned that curiosity beats certainty every time. The Discovery360 is her way of making sure the folks closest to the work get heard—and that we actually do something about what they tell us. We’re still learning and refining as we go, but that's the fun part!
As always, take what's helpful, leave what's not, and make it your own.
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