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Ontario Hospital Association

Behind closed doors, TTU founder, director and co-author Nik Gowing emboldened almost two hundred CEO’s and board chairs of medical facilities from the Ontario Hospital Association in Canada to thrive on change.

Each faces a formidable task and deadline to restructure their hospitals. The new political demands are creating significant strain for the executives from all directions. They are confronting growing resource and funding problems. Conformity is handicapping their ability to do what is needed. Public confidence is being drained by the ever rising need for patients to be cared for in ‘hallways’. The TTU challenge for Nik was to reassure and help them realise that their predicament is a universal problem for leaders everywhere these days. Huge numbers of top executives globally face identical stresses from the scale and nature of the new disruptions. New unthinkables are in reality new unpalatables which as executives they have no option but to confront at high speed.

After the briefing and brainstorming executives described the experience as “positive”, “cathartic” and “what we needed”. The OHA assessment given enthusiastically after the session was “Well done. Thank you. Ten out Ten!”

At Nik’s suggestion, the aim was stimulating, energetic debate and engagement. It was informal and dressed down - a departure from Ditchley’s usual norms.

The session exceeded all expectations and created a buzz of energy all day.

Nik persuaded 35 of the 150 young people people to give their views in just 55 minutes of brainstorming. He brought speakers in at a high rate of interventions, capturing the findings on a white board to create the springboard for intense, radical discussions throughout the festival.

Ditchley provided a unique opportunity for participants to engage with like-minded peers on fundamental questions about the kinds of lives that they want to lead.

The festival’s other aim is to introduce Ditchley to the likely leaders and thought leaders of tomorrow. They are curious about the world in which they live and open to new ideas and challenges to current patterns of thinking.

All photos ©SilverApplesPhotography2019