When one sees all the construction happening throughout Yorkton and area, it's clear that the community is in the middle of a big change. So how does one prepare themselves to do best in a changing environment? The Pacific Institute recently lead a conference in the city to talk to business leaders about corporate culture and the importance of innovative thinking.
Laural Manegre, who has been with the Pacific Institute for 22 years, says that the goal of the event was the get community leaders to think more boldly about what can happen, and focus on the different challenges which will be happening in the next eight years.
The approach which the institute takes is focused on psychology, Manegre says, and she says this event also emphasized the ways the culture within a workplace can affect everything it does, right down to the bottom line.
"It can really fast track some success. What we teach people is the mental technology around how their mind works, so that they can make more effective decisions based on where they want to go, rather than where they've always been. Those thought patterns of where we've always been may not serve them for where they want to go," she adds.
She says that the program is built on science, rather than regular motivational speaking. She claims that the Pacific Institute tries to take complicated psychological knowledge and make it easy to understand, which can help people see patterns and have a common language to discuss the idea.
"We don't get stuck doing everything we did before and try to push more of that. Maybe there's some new thinking that can take place."
The day went fantastic, Manegre says, with the community members being very engaged in the process, and she says that the attendees will take away a great deal of information for themselves, their families and their businesses.
Corinne Lubiniecki with Community Futures Ventures was one of the presenting sponsors of the event, and says the event was everything they wanted it to be. She says that the 86 attendees were able to bring home a wealth of information that will help them as they move forward in their lives.
"All businesses need to understand the culture side of their businesses and the thought patterns. Why you're thinking the way you are to day and how to think more innovative," Lubiniecki says.
She says that if the businesses that attended the workshop continue to consider the information they learned, they will thrive.
