Meet Rachel – She runs an Innovation and Strategic Marketing Practice that require people to think well… and think differently.
\Rachel is a facilitator, trainer, coach and writer. She has spent over 25 years in marketing roles in France and Australia . She’s had years in innovation and is accredited in training and facilitating in Systematic Inventive Thinking, Lego Serious Play (LSP) and Thinking Environments. She is passionate about helping people unearth more creative ideas.
She has published a first book, UNBLINKERED: The quirky biases that get in the way of creative thinking…and how to bust them’ and is currently writing a book on facilitation.
She’s also a paddle boarder and kite surfer, a (new) motorbike rider and loves the theatre!
Innovation is vast. Where do you play?
My target audience tends to be medium to large organisations in any sector although I often find myself with engineers.
My speciality is helping teams scan for blindspots or, what we call ‘cognitive fixedness’ – that state of mind where you see things a certain way and can’t imagine alternatives. It tends to be more prevalent in larger orgs. My go-to method is S.I.T. (Systematic Inventive Thinking) which is particularly sharp when it comes to unearthing great ideas – using what you have. Very often the best ideas are hiding in plain sight!
I work on rethinking processes, products & services, strategy, design work, tender bids and wicked problems
Where have you spent most of your working life?
Geographically speaking, France. My first job was there and I stayed 20 years. We moved to Melbourne in 2009. Professionally speaking, I have worked in consulting, advertising, senior executing roles in corporate, boards and now have my own practice.
In terms of expertise, I have spent most of my time honing my skills in marketing strategy and in driving innovation. As Bayer was a brilliant company in terms of HR and training, I have also had a great deal of leadership training which helps me coach others.
What has influenced the way you work most?
All the above but 4 more that come to mind:
1. My family. I made a lot of family-centred choices that I would make again.2. Two of my values are connection and authenticity. I have created a relationship business and I know when to say that I can or can’t do something.3. The French comfort with conflict or debate has amplified my natural tendency to call out the elephant in the room and broach the difficult topics.4. My exposure to the team in Tel Aviv (S.I.T.) gave me a comfort with ambiguity and paradox and a love for shifting paradigms.
What is hardest in your day to day business?
What will your next book be about?
I have a passion for what it takes to bring out the best thinking in a room.
This is the true art of facilitation; it’s about being the smartest at being the dumbest in the room!
I plan to go through the dashboard I have created that helps me achieve this.
What makes your heart sing?