Bill Peel

I think with my hands and have been doing so for as long as I can remember.  It's a natural way for me to concentrate and create.  The bigger the writing instrument and larger the writing surface, the bigger the ideas.  I'm an active listener when I'm drawing and a much more creative person when I can see the connections between thoughts.  Thinking with your hands does not require one to be an artist.  To the contrary, it is more compelling when the diagrams and images are loose, under construction.  Take the plunge.  Grab a marker, hold it high between your fingers and don't worry about the outcome.  Just write, draw lines, scribbles, arrows, dots, anything.  Get the ideas out on paper.  Ask questions, even write out the questions.  It's fun to come back later with another color and answer them, introducing new ideas and information.  My most creative concepts have arisen from diagrams developed on large (30" wide roll) brown paper sheets.  It's reall

I'm truly blessed.  My family and friends know that I love to read and get creative inspiration from a wide range of sources.  My mentee (and friend) Marium, recently gifted me with two books.  "In Pursuit of Inspiration," by Rae Dunn was provocative from cover to cover.  She believes, as do I, that "we are all born artists."  Consider this quote.  "Children need no artistic instruction.  When you put a crayon in a two-year old's hand, they instinctively begin to draw.  There is no hesitation, no inhibition, no resistance."  How true!   I often use an exercise in a facilitation session where I give the participants a sheet of paper and a large tip marker.  Each sheet is different and has one amorphous shape on it.  I ask them to draw something on the paper that uses the shape and tells the group something about them.  It's amazing how many of the people struggle with drawing it "right."  Given the same exercise, kindergartners wo

Winning  teams spend an inordinate amount of time preparing.  I recommend that you use a simple rule of thumb -  spend one-hour planning for every minute of presentation !  In other words, if you're preparing for a 30-minute presentation, invest a minimum of 30 hours in the research, planning, and rehearsal of the presentation.  The results speak for themselves!

It's amazing the ideas that arise when I'm on long drives through the countryside.  In the Fall of 2018, while traveling to attend a board meeting of The Jeffersonian Institute in Jefferson, Texas, I heard a program on National Public Radio ( NPR podcast ).   Thanks, Sirius.  You're my lifesaver on driving trips, along with Audible. The program told the story of how communities of people, large and small, were reading together, uniting diverse groups and creating a common cause.   The broadcast (check out the link) sparked an idea.  What if Mays Business School was reading the same book at the same time - students, faculty, staff and even former students. I pitched the concept to Bailey Urban, the energetic and vivacious leader of the Mays Transformational Leadership initiative, who was all over it.  As was the case in the communities profiled by NPR, I told her that we (Mays) would buy the books and give a copy to anyone who was willing to participate in a discussion gro