The Grove began in 1977 in San Francisco when Sibbet & Associates planted the seeds of graphic facilitation in an organizational-consulting practice. In 1988 it became Graphic Guides, a corporation dedicated to offering process consulting and products that teach others how to work graphically. In 1993 we took the name The Grove Consultants International, acknowledging our growing work in Europe and Asia.

Since that time our symbol has been the tiny cone of our native coastal redwood tree, symbolizing the vitality that comes from committed people working together, with the transparent square representing our process tools, the tiny seeds from which the giant trees of collaboration can grow. Our vision has always been to share our unique visual methodologies worldwide, and, by providing tools and templates, empower others to use visuals to facilitate change.

Our methodologies for visualizing change have expanded far beyond our original core competency of graphic meeting facilitation and now include a wide range of organization-change approaches.

In the 1980s we developed—along with Allan Drexler— the widely respected Drexler/Sibbet Team Performance™ System and Model.

In the 1990s The Grove’s Strategic Visioning™ Process and its related Graphic Guides (wall-size templates) for planning evolved to provide powerful tools to any team leader, manager, consultant or facilitator who wants to help people see the big picture.

The Grove Storymapping™ Process also grew out of our work in the 1990s, and was designed to assist clients in engaging their whole organization in crucial conversations about change. We found that large, graphic murals fostered much higher levels of engagement and commitment among our clients than any other kind of presentation.

In the 2000s we’ve taken these our approaches and insights applied them to personal and professional development through The Personal Compass, a translation of The Grove’s Strategic Visioning Process. The popularity of this tool is driving further extensions.

In 1997 we moved to our current home in the Presidio of San Francisco's Thoreau Center for Sustainability. Located between George Lucas' Letterman Digital Arts Center and the San Francisco Film Centre, we are situated in the heart of the area's emerging new-media community.

In 2005 we decided to commemorate our growth with a new identity, logo, and a tag line—“Visualizing Change”—expressing our continued mission of helping people imagine their way into the future. Our new symbol represents change and growth and a vision of Groves taking root around the world.

The Grove understands and embraces change. Our network is worldwide, and our appetite for co-creating a worthy future with our clients never stops growing.