Earlier this year, Danielle Sauer introduced me to Shawn Hunter; both work for Skillsoft- a unique learning and training company.  This summer Shawn and I met in NYC for a studio interview about concepts and ideas from “Consider.”  Skillsoft has a unique collection of authors and thinkers on topics relevant to their client’s training needs.   I am really pleased to be added to this excellent platform. In one clip I talked a bit about ideas that are marinating in my mind related to my second book (still a ways off).

Clips from the hour long interview are now available on their “Books 24X7″ web site–if you are a subscriber.  Skillsoft did supply  me with a a high-lite reel of some of the topics we discussed. Here is a link to that reel:Skillsoft Clips

I wrote about the think time habits of Lincoln, Clinton and President Obama in “Consider.” As the 2012 campaign unfolds, I have pulled a few quotes from Romney and Obama on the subject.  It turns out that both men are end of the day thinkers.   Not sure that this habit will turn the election, but their late day thinking speaks to the bias towards action that drives their day.   The demands on these two men relegates reflection to the sidelines and at a moment when they are most tired; what we ask of them as they make the case for the most important job in our country tells us a lot about the insanity of the process and the forced tradeoffs that they both make.    Mitt Romney was recently asked about his habits by Scott Pelley on “60 Minutes” and here is what he said:

PELLEY:  Presidents and presidential candidates are booked down to the minute. And I wonder if you ever have a moment to be alone with your own thoughts. If so, when?  And what does that mean to you?

ROMNEY:  Well, at the end of the day, usually at about ten o’clock, things have finally wound down. And I’m able to spend a little time. I talk to Ann. She is on her own schedule. And we — we spend fifteen or twenty minutes on the phone. And then I read. And I think. I think about the coming day and think about what I want to accomplish. I pray. Prayer is a time to connect with — with the divine, but also time, I’m sure, to concentrate one’s thoughts, to meditate, and — and to imagine what might be.

I am really pleased to announce that I have co-founded what we believe is rather unique consultancy that takes the best of “Consider” and applies it to new ways for organizations to imagine who they are and why they exist.    Below is the full press release.

Global Executives Embrace Power of

‘Reflective Thinking’ to

Re-imagine Organizational Purpose

Internationally recognized author and strategist Daniel Forrester and seasoned consulting and service industry veteran Matt Lane founded Thruue Inc.   Best known for it’s innovative process of “reflective thinking,” Thruue Inc. works with Global 2000 corporations, high tech growth companies, government agencies and major non-profits to overcome stagnation and emerge with clarity.

As a noted student of General David Patraeus, Thruue co-founder Daniel Forrester emphasizes, “We are living in an age of data overload where organizations and their leaders must make the time to ‘get the big ideas right’ as General Petraeus taught me.  Those big ideas must then be driven to implementation within a culture that is clear, aligned, and focused on results if you desire to stay relevant and in demand.”

Recently, some organizations ranging from universities to financial institutions have come under fire because of crises resulting from their organization losing its sense of purpose and thus its culture was not aligned to the right ideas and values.   Conversely, organizations today who are clear about why they exist are able to focus on getting the big ideas right.  They create a culture aiming for high performance and thrive-versus their competition.

“We believe culture really matters because it provides the basis for sustained high performance.  Powerfully defined Purpose, Vision, and Values lay the foundation of strong culture that is meaningfully aligned throughout an organization.  As a leader in your organization, your people are looking to be inspired and led in a consistent and meaningful way,” says co-founder Matt Lane.

With operations in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., Thruue Inc. serves senior executives and boards within the corporate and not-for-profit industries worldwide.  For more information regarding Thruue’s offerings, visit www.thruue.com

About Daniel Forrester and Matt Lane
Daniel Patrick Forrester is a business strategist and navigator of organizational and cultural change impacting commercial, not-for-profit, and government entities. He is also the author of Consider: Harnessing the Power of Reflective Thinking in Your Organization published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Matt Lane is a seasoned consultant who has worked with the leaders of organizations across the globe ranging from Global 2000 companies, large government agencies in the US and EU, non-profits, and early stage technology startups. His areas of expertise include business strategy, people/talent management, large-scale program management, organizational development, and creating high performance cultures.

Please join in for this one hour interview as we explore themes from Consider and much more.   Please register by clicking here:  Skillsoft: Conversations in Leadership         

Shawn Hunter, Executive Producer of Skillsoft’s Leadership Development Channel™ and 50 Lessons, hosts Q&A sessions with innovative thought-leaders and best-selling authors to discuss the latest insights from the business world.

While technology allows us to act and react more quickly than ever before, we are taking increasingly less time to consider our decisions before we make them. In Consider, Daniel has distilled the lessons in leadership and habits of reflective thinking that made the difference within the recent financial crisis, war in Iraq and in recovering from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

During the webinar, Daniel will share stories and examples from Consider which demonstrate that the best decisions, insights, ideas, and outcomes result when we take sufficient time to think and reflect.

About Daniel Forrester
Daniel Patrick Forrester is an author, strategist and navigator of organizational and cultural change impacting commercial, not for profit, and government entities. He has worked with the top leaders of organizations from every facet of American life and commerce. He frames and facilitates moments of profound reflection where disruptive initiatives are launched; or he helps organizations question their relevancy, plan for the future and often reframe the language and ideas that bolster why they exist. His book Consider: Harnessing the Power of Reflective Thinking in Your Organization has been celebrated as a top non-fiction title impacting the lives and work habits of leaders in organizations around the world.

About Shawn Hunter
Shawn Hunter is Executive Producer for 50 Lessons and the Leadership Development Channel (LDC), a live and on-demand video learning portfolio. For over a decade Shawn has interviewed, collaborated with, and filmed hundreds of leading business best-selling authors, CEOs, and Fortune 1000 practitioners in an effort to assemble this product. Shawn originally created the LDC while President and co-founder of Targeted Learning Corporation, acquired by Skillsoft in February 2007.

Written By: Daniel Forrester and Ian Portnoy Esq.

The country is watching as the premier and historic University of Virginia (UVA) is unraveling inside a vacuum of leaderless decision-making. Over the last month, the governing board of UVA decided to oust its popular president Teresa Sullivan; chose an interim president; had the interim president decline the role; and then reinstated Sullivan.

The supposed catalyst behind all the tumult was the Board’s perception of Sullivan’s ability to manage change and embrace technology. In the announcement of her departure the University’s Board stated: “For the past year, the board has had ongoing discussions about the importance of developing, articulating and acting on a clear and concrete strategic vision.” The statement continued with a quote from a central figure in this drama, Helen Ragas, who said: “In a rapidly changing and highly pressurized external environment in both health care and in academia, we believe that the University needs to remain at the forefront of change.” With more than a dash of internal politics, that few of us will ever deeply understand, Sullivan was dismissed.

Alas, the reset button has been hit hard at UVA. A “second term” President Sullivan should seize this moment and the latitude that it affords. Today, many institutions require an external forcing function to drive change but the change needs to be consistent with institution’s purpose and not a knee jerk reaction. Amidst the change, velocity, technological evolution and global context surrounding a major university, status quo mindsets can slowly decay a school’s relevancy. UVA has been relevant since Thomas Jefferson set his mind to envision it; Teresa Sullivan can now imagine a powerful new future for UVA. The shackles of inertia are off.

There is of course more to the story as the University’s slow embrace of technology was cited as a criticism of Sullivan’s effectiveness. Today, technology is sold to all of us as a panacea for an institution’s vision. To be left out of the next wave of technology drives many boards to believe that an institution will be rapidly left behind. For schools like MIT and Carnegie Mellon University that may be true. For schools like UVA, that may be less true. Embracing technology and having fidelity to your mission to educate a mind does not mean that technology deeply outweighs the methods of inquiry driven mainly by human interactions.

This is not a public relations fiasco as many have said; this is a lens into the psyche of an institution that is a proxy for thousands of others that grapple daily with how quickly to embrace new technology. Paradoxically, the school’s highly political governance structure, that ignored and disenfranchised the faulty, the Deans, and the student body, quickly found out that technology plays a big role on campus. Students and others unleashed their i-Phones, Twitter tweets and Facebook postings in a rapid revolt that changed the course of the school’s history.

FOUR BIG IDEAS FOR SULLIVAN’S SECOND MANDATE

Following this disruptive experience, a reinstated President Sullivan has a huge and consequential window of opportunity. Her second mandate dwarfs her first. Should she have the moxie to retake the helm, she will have goodwill and capital to expend that she must use quickly and decisively. Here are four ideas to consider:

First: Take a week or two to think and reflect about what has happened. Don’t act without context and the distillation of the top 3-4 lessons of these past weeks. When she is ready, give a thoughtful speech to the whole school and simulcast it off the web for alumni and all who want to hear. Within that speech pivot from the moment of chaos that just past and declare her top three goals for the remainder of her tenure. Follow the late Admiral Art Cebrowski’s advice, “be bold, be fast, and specific.” This speech will enable Dr. Sullivan to establish her leadership and allow her to guide the University’s future.

Second: Declare that you want to re-imagine the purpose of the institution and simplify its stated goals. 1985 was last time the purpose statement of the school was changed. UVA’s web site states that it “enriches the mind by stimulating and sustaining a spirit of free inquiry directed to understanding the nature of the universe and the role of mankind in it.” The question is does anyone on campus still believe it? Does that purpose statement drive behavior? There are also 14 stated goals for UVA that are mostly “hows” to enable the purpose. Get that lengthy list down to 4 or 5 goals that are unassailable and drive the institutions future relevancy.

Third: Declare that the governance structure over the institution failed to meet its responsibilities. Ask that the Governor of Virginia, charged with sourcing board members, engage directly with the school in a historic re-evaluation of what Thomas Jefferson set in motion. The Governor weighed in on the recent controversy and has a mandate within the charter of the school; use his office and influence to enable the board to be re-launched with transparency, better communications and the ability to consider technology beyond the hyperbolic aping of what other institutions are doing.

Fourth: Keeping in mind that her most important function is leadership and engagement of the various University constituencies, she should directly facilitate the student body and university leadership in a multi-month conversation about the appropriate role of technology at UVA. Of course the school will interact with technology within its future context. But should the school sell its soul and declare that “sprit of free inquiry” must happen most often while behind a laptop, i-Pad or smart phone? The art of dialogue has been perfected at schools like UVA. It’s a competency that should be re-examined but not abandoned. Use the process of inquiry to ask school leadership and the students to declare a “charter for the use of technology.” Codify a new social contract for technology and she will set precedent by having the discussion that most other schools simply ignore as they react and fearfully assume that they are behind the technology revolution. UVA will likely discover that it’s not behind and in fact the skills that matter the most have less to do with Facebook and more to do with unleashing the intuitive self deep within the students that it serves.

UVA will continue to thrive as a premier institution of higher learning. Teresa Sullivan has a window of opportunity that most school presidents only dream of. With thoughtfulness, openness and clarity she can seize this bizarre moment for the betterment and sustained relevancy of an exceptional and important American institution.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Daniel P. Forrester is an author, strategist and advisor to senior executives and their boards as they grapple with change, technology and relevancy. Ian K. Portnoy, Esq. is Senior Counsel at Dilworth Paxson, LLP and regularly advises education institutions at all levels.