What to Tell Your Boss

You dream of coming to Mindcamp, and you know your company will benefit from it, so quite reasonably want to propose it as an employee training experience worthy of their investment. Here are some ideas below that might be useful to you in planning your conversation.

Boss: What are the top three benefits for the company as a result of your attending Mindcamp?

You: First, I will receive brief training in a range of productive thinking / deliberate creativity / problem-solving tools, techniques, and frameworks. So I will come back to work a more skilled and valuable professional.

Second, many of the sessions offer repeatable techniques that I can bring back and share with others in the company. I promise to take a bunch of these types of sessions.

Third, in many cases I’m going to be learning by doing, that is, using some of the challenges and opportunities I’m having here as examples to work on while using new productive thinking techniques. So I’m going to come back with some good and practical ideas to carry forward.

Boss: What about your professional development?

You: I’ll finally have a chance to really immerse myself in intensive learning in a stimulating and supportive environment, without being distracted by day-to-day firefighting.

Second, I’ll meet like-minded, intelligent, curious, and experienced people from all walks of life, creating connections that will be the basis for a lifetime of continued learning and exploration.

And third, I’ll get lots and lots of great ideas for my future development path within the company.

And here’s one more reason: I will get the chance to meet some of the top creativity thinkers in the world: top people from France, South Africa, Italy, the UK, and the US, for example. I can’t think of anywhere else I can get this kind of opportunity in such an intimate setting for such a low price.

Boss: Wow, you totally have to go. Here’s a huge budget for all your expenses. And here’s a promotion for being so smart. And here’s the key to the executive washroom. High five!