Imagine you lead a regional sales team on the eve of a historic opening. In January 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community was set to launch later that year. For the Southeast Asian managers of Bayer MaterialScience's polycarbonates business, it promised fresh growth opportunities, but it also called for change. They would have to move from trusted routines (“I know my market and my customers”) to curiously exploring a fast-changing market, and commit to an ambitious growth pipeline. Bernd Hoene, Head of Commercial Operations Southeast Asia for the Polycarbonates business unit, asked Thinkergy to help his team build a creative, growth-oriented mindset, along with the courage to act on it.

Our answer was the Genius Journey Day Trip, a one-day expedition that turns Bangkok into a classroom. On January 15, 2015, 20 senior managers from Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Germany and Japan set out from a hotel meeting room and traveled through the ten destinations of the Genius Journey. In a Bangkok temple, they connected to their sacred, spiritual self. On a Masked Walk through a shopping mall, they put on masks, felt what it is like to wear one, and watched how shoppers responded to 20 masked strangers. Along the way, they learned to throw away the false mask most people wear to hide their true selves, a mask that makes them yield to the command of their worst enemy: their ego. A tuk-tuk ride took them to Lumpini Park, where exercises revealed the fluid, ever-changing character of nature and life. A playground invited them to become playful, optimistic and open-minded again. In a garden, they reflected on the importance of balancing work and life.

The highlight came after dinner. We took the group to Mansion 7, a haunted house where hidden actors lurk in the dark, ready to chase anyone who dares to enter. Each delegate could tour it alone or in a group. In the end, everyone chose to go as part of a team, and that choice was the lesson. It brought to life the first and foundational destination of the Genius Journey: stop your doubts, worries and fears, and start being a courageous, action-oriented and persistent believer. Alone, you have to confront and master your fear by yourself. Together, you can outnumber it.

The day ended with an award ceremony and farewell drinks, and the delegates left with renewed energy. Yet a growth mindset isn't the finish line. It's the starting line. In 2016, the momentum carried straight into a second engagement with the same group, which by then had become Covestro Southeast Asia: an X-IDEA innovation project to improve the customer journey of new clients. One of its top ideas was pitched at Covestro's global innovation competition at its head office in Leverkusen, Germany. The team won, and the idea went on to be implemented. In other words, the courage this team found in a haunted house in Bangkok carried it all the way to a winning stage in Germany. Bernd Hoene engaged us again in 2017 and 2018 for an X-IDEA project with Covestro AG in Leverkusen and Shanghai.

Is your team facing a big opportunity, yet held back by doubts, old routines or fear of failure? Contact us to find out how a Genius Journey Day Trip may help your people build a courageous, growth-oriented mindset and create the momentum for breakthrough results.