2019 Trends: Seeing Beyond the Present, Looking Broadly, and Being Flexible and Adaptive in Changing Times

Barnes & Conti Catalog of Programs

Did you know Barnes & Conti has many other offerings in six areas of expertise—Influence and Communication, Innovation and Risk-Taking, Decision-Making and Problem-Solving, Leadership, Internal Consulting, and Change Management—and we can design custom learning journeys to meet learner needs? If Nelson’s article struck a chord, check out our updated catalog; you might find some topics that resonate with your 2020 training needs.

Download latest catalog of offerings.

In Memoriam: Don Bryant

We are sad to let you know that our beloved colleague and friend, Don Bryant, Kim’s husband, passed away as a result of Parkinson’s Disease on November 22, 2019. Even though Don retired a few years ago, we have continued to visit with him and will miss our Japanese restaurant lunch dates. Don was a warm, funny, quirky man—when the rest of us were bundled up shivering, Don would be walking around in one of his favorite Hawaiian short-sleeved shirts! His love for old “Woodie” cars, surf music, and animals, as well as art, music, and travel, made our workplace especially lively and fun. Don had an amazing memory and told the best stories! And he could identify virtually any song from the 1960’s that Cass would try to stump him with. Don’s work on the Board and as VP of Fulfillment and Facilities helped to sustain our business and support our customers. We will miss him very much and know those of you who knew him will too. We will make a contribution in his honor to Save the Elephants—a cause he supported for many years.

Book Launch for Building Better Ideas by Kim Barnes

Kim Barnes’ new book, Building Better Ideas: How Constructive Debate Inspires Courage, Collaboration, and Breakthrough Solutions, was published last month. The book is based on our popular program, Constructive Debate: A Collaborative Approach to Building Better Ideas. We recently had a celebration for the release of the book.

We’re still offering a 30% discount to friends, colleagues, and clients. To get your discount, go the Berrett-Koehler website and at checkout, click on the words, “Do you have a discount?” You can then enter the code: BETTERIDEAS.

If your organization, team, or workgroup experiences lack of honesty in meetings or endures pointless, heated arguments, Kim Barnes’ unique process of Constructive Debate will show you the way to create better ideas and outcomes by eliminating obstacles to honest discussion, creativity, and collaboration. Here is what one reviewer had to say:

“...Building Better Ideas offers a clear, practical, constructive road map for navigating the often-messy process of going from concept to action. Kim Barnes brings the material to life by weaving throughout the book a business fable that builds on and illustrates each concept, and at-a-glance charts enable quick and easy access to key concepts...”

—Jim Kouzes, coauthor of The Leadership Challenge and Executive Fellow, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

Purchase from Berrett-Koehler

Public Programs for 2020

We’re offering public programs in 2020 for Exercising Influence, Strategic Thinking, and Intelligent Risk-Taking. All three are being offered as Webinars; Exercising Influence is also being offered in person.

The schedule:

Exercising Influence

February 11, 2020

Exercising Influence Webinar: An Introduction

February 5, 2020
May 7, 2020
August 12, 2020
October 6, 2020

Strategic Thinking Webinar: An Introduction

March 3, 2020
August 27, 2020

Intelligent Risk-Taking Webinar: An Introduction

April 2, 2020
October 13, 2020

Cost for the webinars is $435. In person programs are $875.

Visit our website for the full schedule and to register.

Kim Barnes to Present at ATD

Kim Barnes will once again be speaking at ATD. This year’s topic is “Building Better Ideas: The Value of Constructive Debate”

• ATD 2020 Conference and Expo, May 17–20, Denver, CO

Please watch for future newsletters and e-bulletins for the specific information and participant discounts.

What You Love Can Be What You Write

by B. Kim Barnes, originally published on LinkedIn, November 11, 2019

I was long-distance chatting with a friend this morning and mentioned that my latest book had just been published (Building Better Ideas: How Constructive Debate Inspires Courage, Collaboration, and Breakthrough Solutions, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 11/2019). He congratulated me and then asked me for advice on writing. Like so many of us, his life and work are intensely rewarding and full and somehow, there’s never enough time available to write. Yet, he has things to say after many successful years of high-level consulting experience. He has done thoughtful reflection on how organizations and their leaders can grow and improve and has used those insights in his work. He would like to find a way to articulate what he’s learned and formulated for a broader audience through writing articles or even a book. I didn’t see the point in giving him the usual advice…write what you know, write something every day, don’t judge while you are writing. Perfectly good guidelines, all of them – but not very inspiring. Instead, I asked him two questions:

• What, aside from work, do you really love doing?
• What have you learned from that experience that could be applied in other ways?

In his case, he loved a particular activity that has taken him and his family to far-distant places and inspired him to care about life in new ways. I won’t say what it was, because I expect to see an article here soon based on that activity. But the conversation reminded me that most, if not all of us, have a passion for something we do unrelated to work in which we voluntarily invest our time, money, effort, and energy. It may be an art, a craft, a game or sport, a charity, a collection or any activity that satisfies our curiosity, our creativity, our competitiveness, our generosity, our need to achieve meaning in our lives. So instead of saying, “Write what you know,” I say, “Write what you love.”

And just how does that work? Here’s a simple 1-2-3 framework:

1. Name the unpaid activity that lights up your life, that you are constantly getting better at or trying to, that you would do more often if you could and that you look forward to doing when you finish doing whatever you’re getting paid for.
2. Ask yourself what your most important lessons have been from doing this beloved activity.
3. Now examine how those lessons apply to organizations, teams, your profession, your clients, or other aspects of the work you do. Then start your writing.

There are things you know and can apply from one context to another—perhaps metaphorically, perhaps in actual practice. Maybe nobody else has made those connections. You have something to say. Say it.