he following is feedback from some of our clients sharing the after effects of their training with Highpoint. We feel their words speak best to the actual impact and results of the Highpoint experience.

"Hello from Redmond – the work my team did at your center came at a perfect time. It’s been about two months and people are still talking about the lessons learned. Our time was well spent and I’ve been recommending it to other Microsoft folks who are looking for a solid value.

The outdoor events and briefings committed us to identifying our big organizational challenges. My team was struggling with growing pains. For several years people had been neglecting to honestly look at the way they worked together. Some didn’t realize how their behavior, although well meaning, impacted the group as a whole. History and events piled up and were left simmering. The "rope course" rapidly reflected the group’s dynamics. Your briefings put the issues into perspective and allowed the team to draw instant conclusions that could be applied on the spot.

Had we met on the Microsoft Campus, I don’t think we would have had the same type of results. I encourage everyone to leave their email and frustrations back at the office and to immerse themselves. We needed dedicated time to focus on our big problems in a supportive and constructive environment. The rustic lodge and the outdoor activity allowed everyone to leave the office behind for a brief moment.

While no event could identify and correct all of our problems, my off-site with your organization was a step in the right direction. I’ll do it again."

Patrick Copeland
Product Unit Manager, E-Business Group
Microsoft



"Carmen,

After we left our day at Highpoint last week, we went immediately into class at 8 AM the next morning. The group didn't miss a beat. In fact it was one of the best opening class sessions I have ever experienced. Having said this, I want to provide you with some of my personal observations about our collaboration:

One of our biggest challenges is to take a group of 20- 25 students in each class who come from widely varying educational, social, and professional backgrounds... and who have never met each other or the faculty and mold them rapidly into a coherent, confident, and interactive learning community. We are dependent on developing learning communities based on trust, comfortable interaction, and mutual respect. Once this happens the students are able to learn more quickly, completely, and effectively.

Before we began our collaboration, it often took us 1/2 - 3/4 of the first year to develop the core elements of a learning community (and sometimes we never really made it). With our decision to incorporate the Highpoint experience into our curriculum as the first experience the students have, we see the immediate and complete formation of the type of learning community we are seeking to develop. This means that we are immediately effective in the classroom and in engaging a demanding learning process.

Tom McWhinnie and I were talking on Friday after class and we both concluded that our decision to work with Highpoint has effectively speeded up our effectiveness in the classroom by 4-6 months. To make a long story short, we are very happy that we have begun this collaboration and truly view Highpoint as an integral part of our program and curriculum.

I look forward to our continuing collaboration."

William E. Welton, Dr.PH
Senior Lecturer and MHA Program Director
University of Washington
School of Public Health & Community Medicine



"Carmen,

Will has passed on his remarks to you and suggested we might want to add our own. I think it speaks for itself that within an 8-hour period of teambuilding we have jump-started a learning community that would be months in the making. In fact, without the positive, experiential "structured" catalyst event you provide the Executive Masters in Health Administration program, there is a danger that the cohort groups could develop non-productive norms. My experience prior to incorporating your program as the initial event in the EMHA program has been that groups took months to norm and about half the cohorts developed incomplete or dysfunctional norms.

In addition, by debriefing the Highpoint experience and transferring the experiential learning into organization effectiveness theory and practice, students leave our program with the awareness, knowledge and skill sets necessary to create learning communities in the organizations they will lead in the future.

Where else can a group of perfect strangers meet on a rainy and muddy dirt road and within hours develop the trust and team bonds that inspires and enables them to get a wheelchair bound team member forty feet in the air to complete the "Jump for Life" exercise. Astounding!!!"

Tom McWinnie
Clinical Asst. Professor/Organizational Consultant
University of Washington
School of Public Health & Community Medicine