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Signature Speech: Why Do Smart People Do Dumb Things?
How could the bank robber not only rob his own financial institution, but write the hold-up note on the back of his own deposit slip? In this signature speech Madeleine Van Hecke shows why much of what we label stupidity can better be explained as blind spots. This presentation is excellent for luncheon and dinner programs in which those attending want to learn interesting ideas in an atmosphere of fun. The hilarious stories will leave people laughing and thinking: they’ll never view their own slip-ups or the “idiocy” of others in quite the same way again.
Contact Madeleine about fees and availability.
Popular Programs
1—From Furious to Curious: How to Overcome Workplace Negativity
Excellent for organizations whose members are trying to do more with less as they deal with rapid change.
2—Between a Rock and a Hard Place: What to Do When You Can’t Do It All
Perfect for people who can easily tell you what they should do to care for themselves — but can’t do it because they are caught in the middle of demanding people —including themselves!
3—Getting to the Second Right Answer: How to Encourage Innovative Thinking
Ideal for all who want to encourage open-mindedness and innovation in their staff, their team members, or themselves.
4—Don’t Shoot the Messenger!…How to Turn Bad News into Useful Feedback
A boon for supervisors who need to give challenging feedback to their staff, and for team members who want to help one another develop professionally.
5—Sitting in the Draft of an Open Mind: How to Be Open-minded—and Still Stand Up for What You Believe In
Tailor-made for groups trying to relate in a constructive way to those whose religious, political, or social positions are poles apart from their own.
Program Descriptions
1—From Furious to Curious: How to Overcome Workplace Negativity
Workplace negativity is supported by the mental blind spots that prevent us from seeing more hopeful perspectives—perspectives that could help us deal with the stress of change, understand one another better, see more options, build trust, and lessen cynicism. In this workshop, participants learn how to go from furious to curious as they:
- Understand how blind spots create and maintain negativity in work environments.
- Replace automatic, negative reactions to frustration with more constructive, less stressful responses.
- Discover the power each of us has to improve the climate of our own work cultures.
This program is excellent for organizations whose members are discouraged as they try to do more with less or deal with rapid change.
View or Download a free article: “From Furious to Curious: Three Tips to Help Your Team Deal with Frustration” for use in your organization’s e-zine or newsletter.
Contact Madeleine about fees and availability.
2—Between a Rock and a Hard Place: What to Do When You Can’t Do It All
You know that people who care for others need to care for themselves as well. But what do you do when self-care seems impossible? In this presentation, you’ll learn:
- What to do when being a “good” professional seems to mean doing yourself in
- How to identify the stress factors that you can control—and reduce those
- How to hush the inner critic that’s never satisfied
This talk is perfect for professionals who can easily tell you what they should do to care for themselves—but rarely are able to actually do those things. It is filled with wry humor about the ways in which all of us struggle with that demanding person who makes self-care so hard: ourselves.
View or Download a free article “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: What to Do When You Can’t Do It All” for use in your organization’s e-zine or newsletter.
Contact Madeleine about fees and availability.
3—Getting to the Second Right Answer: How to Encourage Innovative Thinking
A consultant offers a boiler plate solution after only hearing a sound bite description of the problem. A team adopts Plan A without even exploring “the second right answer” that might exist. In this workshop, you’ll learn:
- Why our minds slam shut instead of exploring alternative perspectives
- How to “shift lenses” to encourage innovative thinking
- How to change from being “dot”people to seeing the big picture
We miss a lot when we ignore what creativity expert Roger von Oech calls the “second right answer.” This presentation is excellent for all who want to encourage open-mindedness and innovation in their staff, their team members, or themselves.
View or Download a free article “Getting to the Second Right Answer: Three Tricks to Increase Innovative Thinking” for use in your organization’s e-zine or newsletter.
Contact Madeleine about fees and availability.
4—Don’t Shoot the Messenger!—How to Turn Bad News into Useful Feedback
“Can’t he see what he’s doing?” we grumble when a colleague’s sarcasm brings a useful discussion to at standstill. “If only she could see herself!” we think as our co-worker alienates a crucial client.
In this workshop, you’ll learn:
- Why it’s so hard for us to see ourselves
- How to turn “bad news” that fuels resentment to “feedback” that leads to growth
- How to replace shame and blame with challenge and support
This presentation is a boon for supervisors who need to give feedback to their staff, and for team members who want to help one another develop professionally.
Contact Madeleine about fees and availability.
5—Sitting in the Draft of an Open Mind: How to Be Open-minded—and Still Stand Up for What You Believe In
People who want to be open to those whose beliefs differ from their own face a challenge. We want to be open-minded—but we also want to stand up for what we believe in. How can we do that?
In this presentation, you will learn:
- How “my-side bias” naturally leads us to misjudge beliefs that are different from our own
- Three major risks of being open-minded when the “other” group holds values that are poles apart from our own
- Three ways to address those risks
This program is tailor-made for groups trying to relate in a constructive way to those whose religious, political, or social positions are poles apart from their own. Filled with gentle humor about the human foibles that make all of us suffer from my-side bias, this talk helps people come to grips with the real stakes involved in being more open-minded, and explores some solutions to this dilemma.
View or Download a free article, “Sitting in the Draft of an Open Mind: How to be Open-minded and Still Stand Up for What You Believe In,” for use in your organization’s e-zine or newsletter.
Contact Madeleine about fees and availability.