Think Differently.
The vital role of critical & creative thinking:

• Creative thinking
• Critical thinking
• Engaging a Workplace that Innovates! 

Creativity and innovation can’t come from formulas in bottles.  They won’t take organizations very far if boiled down to exercises pulled out for staff retreats, or siloed in “creative-types” departments.

Continual innovation can only flourish in environments that openly encourage experimentation and allow employees to feel safe to fully apply their critical thinking abilities and engage their imaginations to propose new ideas for processes, services, and products.  –It’s a culture thing.

And don’t take our word for it:  As many employees of Southwest Airlines, Google, and other cutting edge companies will be the first to tell you, having fun at work bears multiple dividends.  Studies have shown that when a task is considered “play” versus “work,” workers perform with more enthusiasm, energy, and achieve better results on the tasks considered play.

Workshop participants will explore and take away ideas for the many ways that managers and teams can foster a spirit of fun that transforms their work environments into innovative idea factories that guide their organizations towards success!

• Scenario Planning: The Serious Business of Building Creativity & Flexibility into Strategic Planning

Q: How is it that Southwest Airlines managed to fly through the crisis of sky-rocketing jet fuel prices of 2008 that took down much of their competition?

A: They played a high-stakes game called “What If?:

Those involved with strategic planning processes will often “brainstorm” as they look at possible threats (T) or challenges (C) and opportunities (O) looking perhaps as many as five years out.  They base their “reasonable” brainstorming pretty much on things as they are or can be presumed as “likely” over the next five years. — How's that been working for organizations that currently find themselves suffering through severe budget and staffing cuts?

A process of scenario planning can help to avert crises such as these through more flexible strategic plans.  Scenario planning is an highly underutilized tool that the IBM’s 2010 CEO study underscored as indispensable for organizations that are going to succeed in today’s ever-changing world.

In this workshop, participants will learn how to use the “What If?” technique and experiment with scenario planning.

Leadership & Organizational Development (OD):

• The Art of Project management
• Strategic planning
• Supervisory skills
• How to Conduct an Appreciative Inquiry: Building on Your Organization’s Strengths as Your Own Consultant

Too often, organizational change approaches begin with an eye towards “problem” solving: looking for what’s not working and what or who is to blame.  Such efforts often raise defensiveness and increase anxiety about potential change.  Employee resistance often dooms even the best-intentioned change initiatives.

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a methodology that asserts that whatever you want more of already exists in organizations, and, if fostered and built upon, little room is left for unconstructive practices.  The data gathered through this simple and effective methodology provides invaluable information, insights, and enthusiasm for your strategic planning through a process that engages everyone in the organizational strengthening initiatives that emerge.

Our workshop will walk you through the AI methodology: 1) Creating your overall plan and timeline; 2) Training staff or volunteers to conduct interviews; 3) Compiling and preparing the data; 4) and Structuring your ensuing planning retreats and processes.

An AI program can be especially helpful to smaller non-profits and volunteer associations that typically lack resources to hire organizational development consultants to guide strategic planning and organizational change initiatives.

Distinctions Guiding our Diversity & Inclusion
and Cultural Competence Work:

What do we mean when we say “diversity training”?  Some people expect it means learning about observing anti-discrimination laws; others think it means overcoming individual biases; some view it as appreciating differences between cultures; and still others hope that it has something to do with positive social change and equity.
–How can we make real and measurable progress with our diversity and inclusion programs when we have so many different definitions, ends, and means in mind?

Our approach begins with reviewing some conceptual frameworks* with prospective clients to determine what “type” of diversity training they are looking for. They may be seeking help with (1) International Intercultural Competence (IC), (2) Legal Compliance (LC), (3) Managing Diversity (MD), (4) Individual Prejudice Reduction (PR), (5) Valuing Differences (VD), or (6) Working to overcome recognized systemic biases: Anti-“Ism.” (AI).
*(This helpful framework was created by colleague Patti DeRosa of Changeworks Consulting. PDF)

Diversity & Inclusion and Cultural Competence Topics:

• Navigating Cross-Cultural Life in the Big City!:  Introduction to Cultural Competence
  American businesses and NGO's often possess considerable technical information, but generally lag way behind in understanding the norms and worldviews of those from other cultures with whom they are dealing.  At times these errors are amusing, and others have very serious consequences.  Explore various means by which cultural anthropologists measure and understand views and norms related to various important social aspects, such as ethics, communications, gestures, emotions, status, time, and destiny. —Be sure what those hands of yours are saying!!

• Beyond Diversity: Ally-ship
  To be fully effective and self-generating, diversity initiatives must go beyond simply tolerating differences in order to ward off potential EEO lawsuits.  Many diversity programs gloss over the broader social contexts within which women, people of color, people with disabilities, GLBTs, and other groups struggle, both in and beyond the workplace.  As many have discovered, some diversity initiatives that deal only on the surface would better not have been tried at all because of the cynicism they often produce.Our 1-2 day programs help expand participants’ awareness and comfort in going beyond “appreciating difference” to acknowledging individual and cultural blind-spots and create deeper understanding and trust. Recruiting and retaining diversity will be a natural outgrowth of an environment in which trust and inclusion are the norm, with high-functioning teams will result.

• Religious Pluralism in the Workplace: World Religions 101
  According to the U.S. EEOC, the number of lawsuits filed for religious discrimination complaints filed has risen by 90% since 2000!  Our world is becoming a more interesting and complex place, as people from various cultures come to live and work together.  Do you ever wonder what the turban signifies to your Sikh co–worker, or what values your Hindu boss holds most deeply, or what most inspires your Buddhist employee?This unique workshop offers a helpful overview of common themes found in some of our world's most ancient spiritual traditions.  Understanding more about the basic belief and value systems of your co-workers and clients will help to avert potentially uncomfortable situations – or worse!  This is an important form of cultural sensitivity to support in the workplace, and will contribute considerably towards building harmonious and productive professional relationships.

• An Introduction to the CLAS Standards for Healthcare: Culturally & Linguistically Appropriate Services (U.S. Dept of Health)

"Soft Skills" & Customer Service Topics:

• Interpersonal skills
• Civility
• Emotional Intelligence
• Empathy
• The Gift of Listening
• Assisting upset customers
• Stress management

Written & Verbal Communications Topics:

• Business writing & grammar
• Basic technical writing
• "Presentations as Performance Art" (Creating engaging internal seminars)
• Improvisation