The newly established not-for-profit group, POWA Institute, is making headway in its efforts to educate the Western Australian business community in the use of lateral thinking skills pioneered by Maltese psychologist, Edward de Bono.
The newly established not-for-profit group, POWA Institute, is making headway in its efforts to educate the Western Australian business community in the use of lateral thinking skills pioneered by Maltese psychologist, Edward de Bono.
For the past six months, the organisation has driven its pilot project, rethink – a 14-month course teaching de Bono’s methods – to small business owners in Perth’s north-west metropolitan area.
The course, which was facilitated by a federal government grant of nearly $300,000, includes fortnightly coaching sessions with trained de Bono instructors from West Coast TAFE.
The 40 participants will also undertake seminars to learn how to apply de Bono’s lateral thinking skills to a number of business areas, including strategic planning, financial planning, marketing, organisational development and leadership.
POWA Institute chief executive Ali Sumner said business owners from a range of industries had signed up to the pilot course, including IT, retail and multi-media businesses.
“One thing that has been interesting is the commitment of small business owners. They don’t always have time to be engaged in these things, but we’re starting to see a strong network develop,” she said.
POWA, which is affiliated with the Melbourne-based de Bono Institute, is aiming to provide a range of courses to the community, with particular pro-grams tailored for business owners or youth.
Most of the organisation’s budget will be generated on a fee-for-service basis, although one of its youth projects is being funded by business advisory firm, William Buck.
Ms Sumner said the intention was to create a self-sustaining organisation.
“We’ve got a commitment to designing a different type of not-for-profit that is not dependent on government funds,” she said.
“We want to create community and business alliances that provide real services to business, and provide services for the community at a subsidised cost.”
POWA has established an interim board, including Allegra Capital Pty Ltd executive chairman, Dr Saliba Sassine, and William Buck corporate advisory director, Chris Brown, and is currently approaching members of the business community with a view to establishing an inaugural board by the end of the year.
The organisation is also finalising the construction of its website, which will contain details of other projects, including accredited courses for public sector employees in lateral and parallel thinking.
Although the pilot rethink course is mainly restricted to businesses in the north-west metropolitan area, POWA is considering offering the course in other regions, pending funding.
The program is being supported by the Cities of Joondalup and Wanneroo, West Coast TAFE and the North West Metro Small Business Centre.
