Mountain Quest is committed to building and fostering relationships with groups and like-minded people who are interested in improving professional and organizational performance, personal growth and learning, promoting health and well being, and exploring the many aspects of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth. Please contact erica@mountainquestinstitute.com for more information on setting up a custom retreat to fulfill your groups needs.

Below are some workshops David & Alex Bennet are able to offer as a result of their expertise.  They are available for facilitation services upon request.  If you would like to bring in an outside facilitator, we welcome you and your group, and will assist in any way possible.

Introduction to the Intelligent Complex Adaptive Organization (A New Theory of the Firm). (Workshop) In this highly participative, introductory workshop attendees will learn the basic concepts, language and practices needed to achieve sustainable high performing organizations in a rapidly changing, uncertain and increasingly complex world.  A new theory of organizations is presented, together with its key success factors.  Atendees will not only understand the new principles of organization, leadership and operation, they will also consider how to apply those principles to their own organizations.  The ICAS emphasizes the role of people in determining the creativity, responsiveness, resillience and adaptability needed by the organization to survive.  Based on complexity theory and knowledge management, the workshop demonstrates the need for collaboration, worker empowerment, flexibility and organizational cohesion.  New competencies such as complexity thinking, relationships network management and knowing are also explored.  New ideas like dynamic balancing, optimum complexity and flow are presented.  The workshop combines theory and practical applications to ensure that many of the concepts can be transferred to current organizations to make them more responsibe and adaptable. 

Personal Knowledge Management. (Workshop) The explosion of information and birth of large complex systems have challenged everyone to keep up with their ability to live and be productive while facing a dynamic, turbulent and unpredictable future.  One approach to prepare for the future is called personal knowledge management.  The only way any of us can make credible decisions and take control of our welfare and that of our families is to carefully observe our environment, be able to make sense of it and work with others to make the best decisions and take the best actions possible.  To do this we must understand what information, learning knowledge and intelligence mean.  In other words we must study knowledge and learn how to create, find, share, process and apply it.  One of the few things that we have control over in this world is the information and knowledge in our own heads.  Research in personal knowledge management seeks to identify ways of learning and ways to recognize, share and leverage knowledge.  Its objective is to provide knowledge workers with the knowledge, processes and actions available to get them managing their own knowledge throughout their lifetime.  The research seeks to develop a set of principles, guidelines and methodologies that facilitate knowledge workers taking control over their learning and over the management of their personal knowledge needs and applications. 

Managing Systems and Complexity-From Individuals to Organizations. (Workshop) In this highly participative, introductory workshop attendees will learn the basic concepts, language, knowledge and practices needed to understand and begin to deal with our increasingly complex world and its organizations.  This workshop combines theory and practical applications to help attendees get a feel for working in the increasingly fast-paced, uncertain and complex environment of industry and government.  Three complex adaptive systems are considered in detail: the individual, the group and the organization.  As our knowledge of complexity and complex organizations grows, we begin to think and act differently, and see our organizations from a new perspective.  This new perspective is the foundation for continuous learning, being creative, and more effective problem solving and decision-making.  Emphasizing the role of knowledge and learning in achieving high performance, participants are also led to consider alternate approaches to management and leadership.

New Ways of Thinking and Knowing. (Getaway) Knowing can loosely be defined as hearing beyond words, seeing beyond images, sensing beyond appearances and feeling beyond emotions.  This Weekend Getaway will focus on methods to increase individual sensory capabilities and the ability to consciously integrate these sensory inputs with our tacit knowledge, that knowledge within each of us that is created by past learning experiences but cannot be put into words.  More and more in a changing and complex world we have to rely on "gut" instinct, or an internal sense of knowing, to make decisions and take actions.  This session will address the cognitive capabilities of observing and perceiving, the cognitive processes that transform our observations and perceptions into understanding, and the use of Self as an agent of change. 

Learning for Personal and Professional Growth. (Getaway)  In this highly participative weekend attendees have the opportunity to reflect on their own basic questions that matter and at the same time take a big step in learning how to learn.  Few of us are aware of what research has found that can help us learn, increase our knowledge and be able to use it better.  The weekend begins with developing a common language to talk about data, information, knowledge, wisdom, intelligence, meaning and understanding.  The weekend continues with a review of classical ways of learning and then proposes a new model called "Learning from the Inside Out".  This model helps us understand what happens when we learn and how we can make better use of the potential of our brain/mind for learning.  Considerable time is set aside for personal reflection and relaxed conversation with others.  The goal is to provide a path and an environment where each participant can think about their goals and begin their own personal journey.

Exploring Reality Through Many Perspectives. (Getaway)  An important first step in harnessing the power of self as an agent of change is to understand the different perspectives and theories about how we as humans create our reality.  During this Weekend Getaway, we will explore reality from the perspectives of literature, living systems, consciousness, science and spirituality.  Each of us participates daily in the process of creating our reality as we share our thoughts and feelings with others and, in turn, stay open to the thoughts and feelings of others.  No matter what approach we believe drives our thinking and behavior, we create our reality.  There are many aspects to this process of creation that help our ability to effectively promote this reality.  Some key aspects that will be addressed through exercises and dialogue are: discernment and discretion, balance, trust, sharing, context and flow.