Dominic Thurbon

Dominic Thurbon is Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of international behaviour change organisation ChangeLabs, a world top-10 speaker, and for some years was Head of Research for global generational trends and business strategy consultancy Peter Sheahan Pty Ltd. After graduating from the University of Sydney, Dominic joined Peter Sheahan while continuing his honours thesis in political science. In this role, Dominic led the research on Peter’s new business book Flip: How Counterintuitive Thinking Is Changing Everything, which has now been published in the US, UK and throughout Asia and examines the forces of change currently reshaping the business environment. With Peter, Dominic worked through this material with clients around the world including News Corporation, Google, GlaxoSmithKline, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In his role as Chief Creative Officer of ChangeLabs, Dominic works with partner organisations to address important social issues in areas such as health, education and skills shortages. He is currently focusing on projects to do with helping companies embrace the potential of Web 2.0 and adopt to new technologies. Dominic is also a recognized speaker with a proven track record of performance at the highest level. In 2006 at the World Debating Championships in Dublin, Dominic was ranked the 7th best speaker in the world, and this year was a Grand Finalist at the World Championships in Thailand. He speaks on subjects such as generation change and new business strategy internationally at business conferences in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. PRESENTATION TOPICS Unleashing the Collaborative Potential of your Workforce To get ahead in the knowledge economy, companies must capture the expertise already floating around inside its four walls. By using simple social media tools, we can not only capture and search the expertise we already have, but also direct it towards solving pressing business problems. Unleashing innovation and collaboration in this way is a sure-fire method for driving better results! In this insightful and empowering presentation Dominic will: A toolkit of ways to create a collaborative culture through personal leadership, visible action, evaluation and embedding. The 10 steps to creating a highly collaborative workplace and how to sell people on the value of working collaboratively. The link between collaboration and technology and how to use the real web 2.0 – social networks, content sharing and knowledge aggregation. Insights into why collaboration is key in strategic thinking and how to apply this in the everyday. A thorough understanding of the necessary features and prerequisites of a collaborative organisation. The ability to identify the barriers to collaboration and strategies to deal with these. A plan of immediate achievable steps to begin the process of building a collaborative culture in your organisation. The motivation and conviction to commit to action immediately. Flip! How Counterintuitive Thinking is Changing Everything Flip is your future-focused strategy for leading in times of ambiguity through embracing innovation and change. Based on Peter Sheahan’s international business bestseller Flip: How Counterintuitive Thinking is Changing Everything (now published in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia), this powerful and provocative session will challenge you to rethink the status quo, reassess your business strategy and look at the changing business environment in a whole new way. This interactive and engaging presentation will: Frame the four forces of change currently impacting our business environment and offer strategies for adapting to and profiting from these changes Pinpoint the causes, nature and results of rising stakeholder expectations across all markets and offer inspirational case-studies of companies that have adapted to meet and exceed these demands Highlight the growing importance of stories, “superficial” experiences and non-monetary factors in consumer decisions Explore new notions of ownership and control in areas is of brand, products, innovation and marketing & management Understanding and Engaging Generation Y Generation Y are the 4.5 million Australians born between 1978 and 1994 and their unique expectations are redefining consumer and employment markets alike. But we can’t hope to engage and retain this group without first understanding the unique mindsets that drive their behaviour. In this insightful, interactive and entertaining presentation we will: Unpack the seven mindsets of Generation Y, and the environmental factors that have combined to shape and create them Examine how these mindsets relate to engaging and retaining the best Gen Y talent Identify, analyse and eliminate the biases and blind spots managers have about Generation Y Look at the key differences between Gen X, Gen Y and the forthcoming “gen z”, and what this means for management styles Dive into how each manager is responsible for crafting and living the ‘employer brand’, and what employer brands attract top Gen Y Lay out the massive implications of the Generational Change in driving new disruptive technology and how this can be harnessed to build collaboration at work Work through practical case studies, real-life situations and best-practice practical advice for managing the Gen Y to get the most out of them Brainstorm and craft usable strategies for managing Gen Y in a way that is desirable without compromising core business necessities Embracing the Future of Education The face of education is changing at a pace like never before. Whether it be the digital education revolution or national curriculum in our schools; the introduction of new AQTF requirements and shift to competitive, per-student funding in the vocational education sector; or the changing demands and expectations being placed on our tertiary institutions from both a teaching and learning, and administrative perspective – never have our providers of education been faced with more change and challenge. So how can leaders, administrators and educators innovate to thrive in the new world of education? Dominic Thurbon is Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of ChangeLabs, a behaviour consultancy with over 50 staff in three countries. With clients around the world in diverse industries such as IBM, SkillsTech, Box Hill TAFE, the University of Central Queensland, Apple, Charles Darwin University and the Australian Council of Education Leaders, Dominic has unique insight into the future of innovation, collaboration and competition in education. In addition, the ChangeLabs team with in various countries directly with over 350,000 students in their programs every year, offering clear insight into emerging trends in student engagement and teaching and learning. They have also worked with over 100,000 educators through their program Beyond Chalk, looking at the future of technology in the classroom. In this highly customisable, dynamic and empowering session, we will: • Explore the key forces of change that are driving new demands and expectations in the different parts of the education sector • Examine latest trends in student engagement in the classroom and how we can evolve our practices to meet the changing demands of this generation of learners • Look at how educators can draw on diverse lessons from the business world in building cultures of innovation, continuous improvement and collaboration • Unpack the way we can better attract and retain the top talent in education – in an environment where over 1/3 of qualified teachers work outside education • Outline some clear action points and ideas that are actionable NOW, to accelerate the process of change and innovation With great change comes great opportunity, and based on experiences speaking, researching and consulting all around the world, these sessions are designed to help tap into the opportunities that exist and help us move confidently into the future.