SideWiseInsights.com - About The Institute

It’s easy to say, “Just think outside the box,” but sometimes the box looks like concrete walls. What solutions haven’t occurred to you? What opportunities exist outside your field of vision? What do you do when it seems you’ve run out of tools?

Conventional “creative thinking” is all about brainstorming, but there’s a focused way to do it that reflects good business judgment. There’s a method of turning blue-sky ideas into practical solutions that make financial and operational sense. The trick is learning how to think sidewise — “both/and” instead of “either/or.” Sidewise thinking is where project management meets business creativity, and it can change how your organization thinks and performs in project, product, and performance management.

Meet The Sidewise Institute, founded by Michael Dobson, a respected expert and best-selling author in the field of project management. We don’t just help people think outside the box. We help people figure out how to get around the box, and when to realize the box isn’t real in the first place.

Most importantly, we combine the skills of independent, creative, risk-positive thinking with the careful attention to planning and process of the professional project manager. That means our solutions are creative and prudent, our risks are managed and chosen, and our teams independent and cohesive — “both/and,” not “either/or.”

From dynamic keynotes and team motivation to results-oriented training and coaching that maximizes practical application to real projects, from innovative rule-playing simulations to targeted webcasts, we have the tools and resources to deliver the change you want and the change you need.

THE PRINCIPALS

Michael Dobson, President, has been on the leading edge of project management since the early 1970s, when he helped build the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. He led creative and marketing operations for TSR, Inc., publishers of Dungeons & Dragons®. A popular keynoter and inspiring trainer, Dobson is the author of 21 books, including the upcoming Creative Project Management from McGraw-Hill.

Project Management
Business Creativity
New Product Development

Jim McCormick is the expert on performance improvement through intelligent risk-taking, holder of five-world records in skydiving, and author of Business Lessons from the Edge (McGraw-Hill) and The Power of Risk (Maxwell Press):

Using Intelligent Risk-Taking as a Performance Improvement Strategy for both Organizations and Individuals
Creating a Culture that Yields Innovation

Greg Hartley is a human behavior expert, former interrogator, and author of six books on body language and other extreme interpersonal skills, including The Body Language Handbook (Career Press).

Advanced Body Language
Extreme Interpersonal Skills
How to Spot a Liar

Ted Leemann is a leading speaker on project management, former president of the Center for Systems Management, and during a 23 year Army career served in many rules including on the West Point faculty and staff. He is the co-author with Michael of Creative Project Management.

Project Management
Quality Assurance
Performance Management

Mark Davis is an expert in strategic communication for corporate clients, a former senior speechwriter to President George H. W. Bush, and a former press secretary to California Governor Pete Wilson.

Strategic Communications
Crisis Management
Playing Defense — and Offense

You can expect to see performance upgrades immediately after your team participates in the presentations and training offered by the Institute. You can expect impressive ROI.