What Clients Have Said

From Thomas Raffio, President & CEO, Northeast Delta Dental (formerly Senior VP, Delta Dental Plan of Massachusetts):

Delta Dental had already received national recognition as a pioneer in the insurance industry by offering unprecedented levels of service guarantees to its customers, and we were looking to leverage our operational efficiencies and positive reputation into new business opportunities. Developing our potential for innovation was a critical part of this, particularly in the face of rapid changes taking place in all areas of health care coverage.

Jeff conducted a series of exploratory focus groups with benefits managers and consultants, which yielded a wealth of information and insights on how and why they choose or recommend particular insurance products. These were followed by a number of creative ideation sessions expertly facilitated by Jeff and his colleagues, in which our team generated and developed a host of new business concepts, many of which were eventually put into practice.

Jeff also trained our top and mid-level managers in the process he used to facilitate our idea generation sessions. This was a real eye opener. We had always prided ourselves in the talent we drew to Delta Dental, and in the collegial, open working environment we had created for ourselves. Still, the training programs Jeff conducted demonstrated how a team of employees, by encouraging creative thinking, and by respecting and building upon each other's thoughts, could come up with ideas that surprised even us. The degree of teamwork this process engenders is truly impressive.

We also hired Jeff to train several of our managers to facilitate the innovation process internally. To my knowledge, it is still being used today.

In sum, I would say that the returns Jeff provided were well worth the time and money. I would recommend his services to any business looking for a more creative approach to taking advantage of opportunities, and developing more innovative work teams.

From Walter F. Petryschuk, Ph.D., Director General, Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute (IMTI), National Research Council, Canada:

I was hired by the National Research Council of Canada ... to establish a research and development institute specializing in manufacturing technologies. The institute as of today comprises an organization 110 strong located in London, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia with a strategic plan calling for 180 staff by 2001.

One of the many acts required to create such a body of capable and technically knowledgeable people was the requirement for training in several fundamental management processes. (Among these) the staff needed experience in working as effective groups within the participatory management style that was being implemented within the institute.

Mr. Jeffrey Govendo was the trainer supplied by Synectics during the test run made by three institute representatives - a research trainer, a group leader and an analyst. The latter were Ph.D. or Masters level educated but had no formal training on group process. They returned from the experience extolling the virtues of proceeding with training the whole of the institute's staff.

The staff has been extraordinarily impressed by the process and by Mr. Govendo's personal delivery of the content material. He has done a superb job, not only during the sessions but also with follow-up and with the personalized interest in helping the eight facilitators who have been trained within our organization.

The program was not selected for its economy. Rather the process and repeated hiring of Mr. Govendo was the requirement for quality and a process that reached the staff in a manner as to create a significant emotional effect. Mr. Govendo delivered the goods! I recommend his services to anyone seeking to develop an organization that is capable of thinking beyond the obvious, one that is based on team methodology and one that is based on participatory principles.

From Roland Cuny, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Webwasher.com:

Dear Jeff,

We met each other at the Siemens idea workshop in Dietramszell in January of 1998. I was the champion with the business idea Smart Surfer ("Better navigation on the Web") in your group.

This idea has led to the founding of a new company called Webwasher.com AG. Webwasher is used by more than two million users. We have 40,000 people in our email list, several thousand downloads each day and receive about 500 mails each day from users.

The workshop you conducted has really changed my life. It is incredible how a new idea can transform itself in such a tornado and become a great business. Today I am vice president and CTO of the Webwasher.com AG. I want to thank you very, very much.

From Bernhard Gueldner, Ph.D., Siemens Information and Communications, Germany

My initial contact with Jeff and his work was during a trip to the U.S. in which a group of "fast track" managers from Siemens, of which I was a member, participated in a one-day creative problem solving program which he designed. Although this was just a small part of our overall mission in the states, it was a real highlight of the trip. Many of my colleagues spoke of how valuable the techniques were and wished the workshop had been longer.

Because of this success, I went to Jeff a year later to help us in the Open Enterprise Computing division. We had begun a process called New Opportunities Identification, in which we were to examine current "megatrends" (economic, business, technological, social) and come up with new business concepts based upon the implications of these trends. Where we especially needed help was at the front end: using our imaginations to visualise and describe radically different or unusual ideas, without being overly critical or making judgments too early in the process. We also needed to work well as teams, as the groups we put together for these sessions were very cross-functional; many people had never met each other before.

I must say that the number of ideas these groups came up with was remarkable. Under Jeff's leadership, people were encouraged to describe any ideas that came to their minds; nothing was too off-base. (Keep in mind that nearly all were Ph.D. engineers, normally very precise and critical thinkers). Often, he used special techniques to stir their imaginations for new thinking, and then encouraged them to build on each other's ideas. After the initial rounds of idea generation (which yielded, literally, hundreds of possibilities), leading candidates were selected for further development in subgroups, again following a protocol which Jeff suggested.

By the end of the second session, we had approximately two dozen fresh, new business concepts with sufficient viability to move forward to the next stage of business planning and review. In addition, getting so many new people involved as project "champions" will surely help to propel our efforts forward.

The sessions were fun, and most everyone got very excited about the new and interesting business ideas. It was particularly refreshing to see people hold off on critically evaluating each other's ideas, which in the past has kept us from getting too far in this type of process. I believe Jeff's skill at designing and facilitating this unique process was the real key to its success.

From Rich DeLollis, National Sales Manager, Unilever Home & Personal Care, USA:

Jeff worked with me and a committee at Helene Curtis to design and run our National Senior Managers' Meeting in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the company's largest annual meeting. We were looking for an approach that would stimulate our people's thinking, address some of our real problems and concerns, and also provide a good time for our hard-working managers.

From my perspective, Jeff and his colleagues really helped the meeting committee in the following key areas:

• Idea generation, visualization and fulfillment
• Listening and problem solving
• Creative thought process
• Energy and fun

In my 25 years of experience, I've put many meetings together, so I have a rather broad base of comparison. Jeff's assistance was truly instrumental in producing one of the finest meetings I've experienced.

The reason this meeting was so successful in large part was due to Jeff's participation and guidance. His influence was highly evident in the following areas:

• He helped make a difficult task easier by giving us the courage to explore and implement creative and innovative approaches to real business tasks.
• He was never more than a phone call away when we needed input and help.
• The idea generation approach to problem solving can really help provide creative and meaningful solutions...I still use it today!
• The meeting had a truly high level of energy and enthusiasm...a "tone" which was nurtured by the creative and participatory approach Jeff engenders.

In sum, Jeff was terrific to work with and provided us not only with a great "sounding board" for coming up with new ideas, but also a very collaborative and productive partner in creating this event.

From Thomas M. Colwell, Plant Safety Supervisor, BP Amoco Polymers, Inc.:

I am writing to recommend the services of Mr. Jeffrey Govendo and The Innovative Edge, Inc.

I contracted with Jeff to train our plant Safety Advisory Committee in a program called Group Creativity and Teamwork, as well as intensive, follow-up facilitator training for two of the trainees, one being an hourly employee and the other a salaried employee (co-facilitators of the committee).

Many who are not familiar with a manufacturing environment are unaware of the critical role played by the Safety Advisory Committee. Besides the legal responsibility of making certain that the plant is in compliance with OSHA and other regulatory standards, the decisions made here directly affect the health and well-being of our employees on a day-to-day basis. This is a responsibility we take very seriously, so anything we can do to improve our own performance as a team is a real plus. The training Jeff provided did just that.

In a teaching style that was always supportive yet to-the-point, Jeff showed us the many ways in which ideas and suggestions get shot down before they're even considered. Furthermore, he offered new tools that enabled us to be more receptive to new thinking, and to consider new ways of doing things. I am particularly impressed by how well the process he taught tends to "level the playing field" between salaried and hourly employees, who are equally represented on the committee, but in the past haven't always contributed equally. It seems much easier now for everyone to offer ideas and suggestions, and the committee as a whole has benefited from this.

In addition, part of the program was devoted to learning a new format to improve the efficiency of our monthly meetings, which usually have a large number of agenda items that must be covered. Jeff's method gave us a new way of setting priorities for these, as well as a structure for moving through them quickly, without shortchanging any. As a result, our meetings are so well-run, they have been benchmarked by representatives from other BP Amoco facilities.

In sum, the relatively brief time we invested in this training has paid off handsomely in new efficiencies, overall time saved, and most importantly, our performance in guarding the safety and well-being of our employees. I would recommend the services of Mr. Govendo to anyone having similar objectives for their teams and committees.

From Dr. Peter Schlichtiger, Director, e-Commerce, Dresdner
Bank AG:

In August of 2000, on recommendation from a colleague at another German corporation who had worked with Mr. Jeffrey Govendo on an innovation project, we brought him to Dresdner Bank for a visioning session with the theme, "New Business Opportunities in the Age of e-Commerce." Our goal was to come up with a number of ideas for possible new businesses based in e-commerce, that reflected new thinking (i.e. nobody is doing that right now) and, of course, had the potential for great profitability.

We brought together about 20 of the bank's Vice Presidents, Directors and Project Leaders, representing nearly all of the bank's business areas, for this assignment. Mr. Govendo designed and conducted the two-day meeting. By skillfully facilitating this highly-placed group of individuals, we were able to come up with over 80 ideas. Some, of course, were fairly commonplace, as to be expected. Others, however, were quite ingenious and daring; the kind of ideas that I am convinced would not have come up without the coaching by Mr. Govendo. He made it easy for each person to say whatever came to mind, and engaged us in several exercises that helped to "loosen" our thinking process.

However, Mr. Govendo's process did not conclude with the many ideas generated. In fact, this was only about half of it. What was most useful was selecting some of the most interesting and promising of the ideas, and building them into working concepts with enough detail to assign committees for further research and development. This gave everyone a great sense of momentum. We knew what had to be done in order to carry each business concept forward. In all, there were 7 of these concepts on which to move forward.

It was a very productive two days!

Among the group we gathered for this, there were a number who were somewhat skeptical of engaging in such a creative process. By the end, however, all were quite enthusiastic and felt the time was well spent. I would therefore recommend Mr. Govendo's services to anyone who needs to engage a group in "thinking outside the box" for new business or product ideas. In fact, I hope to have him return to Dresdner Bank again for such exercises in the future.