The history of the workshop process started in the executive programs. CEO's and senior management would come with dire business challenges/crises, e.g.:
- 9/11 - Terrorists used their own names boarding the plane, were on watch list, used their own names for flight training, yet were not caught.
- GM Locomotive Division - not profitable despite 50% market share.
- Boeing - lost tanker fleet contract, joint-striker contract, and NASA. What to do?
- U.S. Navy - sailors not re-enlisting.
In class Professor Donovan would ask for volunteers for such business challenges, and overnight the demonstration team would implement a prototype and business case.
Many participants then asked for this process to be applied to their challenges. We then would develop and offer a one-week workshop/strategy session, whereby key users would come, address their challenge, develop a solution, which would then be presented to the senior management on the last day. In over 200 workshop never once a successful solution was not discovered.
Click on Videos on the left for abbreviated portions of those presentations.