Where They Were

In 2006, Thomson’s publishing division, formerly West Publishing, needed to expand beyond legal documents publishing. This meant they had to take employees whose jobs were focused on accuracy and repetition and find a way to change those people into an innovative force within the organization.

What We Did

Sweeney helped Thomson leaders incorporate an active learning, innovation-training program into the organization’s internal training curriculum. The program was based on the improvisation-based skills taught by Brave New Workshop Creative Outreach and compelled employees to change individual behaviors in order to move beyond just coming up with ideas. Sweeney and the Creative Outreach team helped spread the new innovation program across multiple departments including, company-wide leadership training, customer service training and, most recently, sales training. We also helped Thompson create a new form for internal messaging—comedy videos. This new format has helped Thompson transition away from information-heavy, data-filled traditional updates to engaging, light-hearted messaging that is much more appealing to read and easier to retain. Thomson has even used the new format to launch numerous products and initiatives in the US and, now, in India.

The Result

“John is always creative and fearless; he never lets naysayers derail his programs and they come out true believers on the other end. I have personally watched him interact with international audiences - he brings the same enthusiasm to the table whether it is a board room meeting at noon or a WebEx session with India at midnight! If you need someone to energize your workgroup, teach great brainstorming and ideation skills, John is your person."
- Becky Fillinger, Vice President, Learning and Engagement