Our Story
From Paige Hull Teegarden, our President and Founder.
Think Outside has been many years in the making. Over the past 17 years, I've been working for and with a wide range of organizations of various sizes, many of them nonprofit organizations. I've worked hard to understand organizational systems and to provide appropriate strategic planning processes, to provide research informing their programming, services or products, and to design performance measurement/evaluation systems. At the same time, I spent weekends hiking, biking, and whitewater kayaking and was increasingly aware of the openness in spirit and mind that came from these outdoor ventures. I have always found that being outside clears my mind. Some of my best ideas come on walks with my two dogs, riding my horse or kayaking with my husband. As I worked with friends and acquaintances on new skills (often kayaking), I found interesting parallels with their work and organizations. I began to see an openness to learning, to 'unfreezing' existing paradigms and assumptions when we were working on concrete skills while outdoors. And ultimately I wondered if there wasn't a way to expand that 'openness', use that space to have more effective organizations.
In 2005, I also began work with Denice Hinden (of Managance Consulting) and Paul Sturm on a book exploring organization culture and its impact on nonprofit organizations. In 2006 I began an intentional journey to uncover possible ways of combining my passion for the outdoors and my nascent ideas on deep organization change and development using the the outdoors. In 2008, these strains have come to fruition in Think Outside.
I have found strong research and theoretical models that support my proposition that we can use our human connection to the natural world and intentionally designed and facilitated outdoor experiences to push organizations to new perspectives, new strategies, and ultimately new levels of effectiveness. I use the insights from my work on our book on organization culture to help ensure that our interventions don't deal solely with organization structure and process but enliven the heart and soul of the organization.
Ultimately, Think Outside uses a wide variety of outdoor (or outdoor inspired) activities—adventure: rafting, rock climbing and high ropes work; contemplative practice: hikes and work with horses; and equine assisted work— to help promote innovative thinking, new strategy, leadership development and improved team work!
I am still on a journey of learning and discovery. I know that with my partners and customers, we will grow to an even better articulation of how these modalities create openness in mind and spirit. I invite you to join me in this journey. Come Think Outside!
Certifications Include:
MBTI (myers briggs type indicator) Certified Professional
Equine Assisted Growth and Learning by Greg Kersten (EAGALA's Founder)
Wilderness First Responder
CAA Kayak Instructor