More About Ellia Harris
When I was in school, the process I developed for studying helped me get good grades. Later when I started working, I continued to rely on this method to learn on the job. My strategy worked well…until I became a manager.
I quickly discovered that managers don’t get a user’s manual for how to deal with people. Intensive management training wasn’t an option for me at the time. I felt stuck.
Sure, my team was meeting targets, but we were using the tired techniques that had always been done. It became clear to me that we would not get the results that we knew we were capable of, and results in that company truly affected people’s lives. My manager, and their manager, expected more of me.
The Light Bulb Thinking™ Framework Was Born
For a while, I struggled to find the formula that would fill the gap between being good at my own job and managing a team to meet managements’ expectations.
Then I came across the concept of creative problem-solving (CPS) and learned the techniques. After gaining confidence in CPS, I was nervous but decided to try this approach with my team to address some specific challenges. What did I have to lose?!
Not only did we come up with new kinds of solutions, we hit our targets more easily and sometimes blasted right through them. We discovered new, imaginative ways to communicate with our target audiences. We developed systems that made us more productive. And we received positive feedback from internal stakeholders.
And we kept producing these results! That’s when I realized that facilitating creative problem-solving is the fastest route to being an effective manager and developing a high-performing team. It started with proving it for myself. As an Organization Development Consultant for over ten years coaching leaders, training teams, and speaking at conferences on leadership and creative problem-solving, I’ve been helping other managers prove it for themselves using the Light Bulb Thinking™ Framework (LBT).
Whether these managers were in operational, sales, marketing, fundraising, customer service, R&D, or cross functional teams, I witnessed them putting in the work to implement and practice LBT on a regular basis, in order to produce positive outcomes.
Past Experience
It’s worth mentioning that a diverse career path has contributed to my ability to see things from this unique perspective. Not to mention my ability to empathize with the challenges facing new and experienced managers.
In the past, I’ve worked as a senior executive at several successful nonprofits managing fundraising and communications teams. I’ve also been a communications advisor at one of the world’s leading consultancies, and a productivity coach specializing in helping individuals reduce the clutter in their home and their head.
This unique blend of experience and expertise means that I’m able to provide well grounded guidance that covers different aspects of leadership such as strategic planning, developing teams, communication and, of course, creative problem-solving and innovation.
I’m committed to training and coaching in CPS and innovation, and doing so with increasing urgency, because the world needs us to be at the top of our game. I believe that approaching problems with curiosity and creativity is the key to addressing society’s, and the planet’s, most crucial challenges. And I think you’re on this site right now because you believe this too.
Onwards, to your success!
