Monday, May 10, 2010

Teaching People How to Think

Watch the interview on WHO-TV 13 News tonight at 10 where I discuss how Edward de Bono's proven tools help teach people how to think. Click to view a short video teaser.

Barbara Stennes

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Innovative Facilitation Tools Help Advance Strategic Community Initiatives for Long-term Economic Impact

Edward de Bono: Edward de Bono Six Thinking HatsWe're excited to announce our new Six Thinking Hats Case Study that demonstrates the power of Edward de Bono's proven innovative facilitation tools . . .

In 2006, Mary Bula was hired to serve as the sole director for the Growth Partnership division of the Erie (Pennsylvania) Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership (ERCGP). With no additional staff to turn to, Mary knew that success would depend on effectively engaging and leading volunteers from the private sector. She also knew that it was imperative to form strong collaborations with elected officials from various government bodies in order to best address regional challenges and capitalize on opportunities . . .

In evaluating how she could best lead the Growth Partnership, Mary identified one skill area that would be critical to success: expert group facilitation. She was aware that people from the private sector think very differently from those working within government agencies, a fact that can cause difficulties, misunderstandings, and delays. But she had faith that these differences could be tapped to strengthen a coalition, rather than hampering its efforts.

Click to read the complete Edward de Bono case study to learn how just four days of intensive training in de Bono's Six Thinking Hats and Focus on Facilitation techniques led to amazing results for ERCGP.

Ignorance is Not Bliss

Edward de Bono is currently in Australia, where he's a keynote speaker at the Happiness & Its Causes conference. In an interview published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Dr. de Bono discusses his views on happiness, the old saying that "ignorance is bliss," and why humans should purr like cats.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Interview to Air Next Week on WHO-TV 13 News!

Yesterday I was interviewed for a story that will air next week on WHO-TV 13 News. The following is from Dave Price's May 4 Blog Post:

"I don't want to give away all of my story for next Monday night at 10. But today's interview was fascinating. I haven't been this intrigued by an interview for a while . . .Today, I talked with a CEO of a metro company that teaches people how to think. Yeah, I know, some people may think this is a bunch of bull puckey. But they get governments, non-profits, businesses, chambers of commerce, etc. to get together and re-invent the way they think their approach to problem-solving. Our conversation was tremendously interesting. My only complaint is that she had so much good stuff, it will never all fit into our story! But that's a good problem to have. Actually, it's a great problem to have."

More details to come!

Barbara Stennes