Speakers
Speakers' Page
David Gibbons, MBA
Consultant, The Refinery Leadership Partners Inc.
Refinery consultant David Gibbons has built and led corporate leadership development programs for an impressive list of Canadian businesses. Prior to joining The Refinery, David was executive director of the Learning Strategies Group at SFU Business with clients such as PMC-Sierra, BC Hydro, BC Transmission Corporation, Radical Entertainment, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, UBC Department of Paediatrics, Providence Healthcare, Alcan and Blast Radius. His teaching expertise spans several areas, including business process design and automation, financial analysis and planning, strategic decision-making and decision science. A dedicated educator and student, David continues to teach at SFU’s Faculty of Business in the undergraduate and MBA programs, and is currently pursuing his PhD in strategic decision-making.
Speaking Engagements
“Strategic Decision-Making”
BCHRMA Conference -- May 2, 2008
CMABC Member’s Conference -- May 27, 2008 (sold out)
Strong problem solving and decision making skills enable us to respond quickly and professionally to business challenges and strategic planning issues. Yet research shows us that most people are bad at making decisions, particularly as decision complexity rises. The purpose of this session is to challenge traditional and often ineffective forms of strategic decision-making, and identify best practices.
Based on the work of William Altier Chan Kim, Renee Maubourgne, Nassim Taleb and others, the session will introduce formal decision making and problem solving frameworks with applications across a broad range of disciplines, including design, operations, financial risk management, and price reduction management in marketing. Building on the theory portion of the session, participants will be given the practical tools they need to analyze problems and opportunities, think strategically, and identify appropriate solutions.
“Advancing to Boardwalk”
BCHRMA Conference -- April 30, 2008 (sold out)
Through an adapted game of Monopoly, participants will learn firsthand how financial statements work, the first step in determining the financial health and direction any organization. During game play, participants will discuss the unique financial realities of their industry and their companies and learn how they can positively impact these realities to build business results.
This workshop will help HR professionals:
- Align HR processes to company strategy
- Build airtight business cases for HR initiatives
- Better manage one of the company’s biggest assets: its people
- Demonstrate the impact of individual, team and departmental contributions to the bottom line
Participants are encouraged to bring a copy of their company’s latest annual report so they can compare what they are learning in the workshop with their unique situation.
“Making Leadership Development Succeed In Your Company”
Engineering HR Association -- Sept. 23, 2007
BC Business Council -- Nov 7, 2007
Along with colleagues from Teck Cominco and BC Transmission Corp, David discussed a process for incorporating leadership development within engineering-intensive organizations. Presenting a step-by-step guide, David demonstrated how to build support, design for success, and operationalize a high quality leadership development program.
“Building a Learning Organization throughout your Company”
HR Tech Group -- Nov 9, 2006
In this session, David spoke about how organizations with even limited budget, resources and support can build positive learning environments. Organizations of varying sizes and industries were used as case studies to show the many different approaches that can be used to achieve this goal.