Building High Performing Teams
Our highly experienced practice leads and accredited practitioners
form the heart of the CDS Network.
ABOUT US
Challenge Dialogue ® is a collaborative process to address complex challenges and seek breakthrough results from a diverse set of leaders. The Challenge Dialogue System was designed specifically to address complex, often ambiguous challenges that cross boundaries and require innovative solutions. It helps groups become proficient in engaging in purposeful dialogue that produces results, in this case a clearer understanding of a complex performance challenge and the steps needed to resolve it. CDS helps groups learn to collaborate through the experience of actually co-creating solutions to real and immediate performance challenges.
Our Mission
To empower change leaders to help diverse groups collaborate and innovate to achieve breakthrough improvements in performance through the masterful application of the Challenge Dialogue System.
Our Network
The CDS Practitioner Network is a team of high performing practitioners trained, accredited and mentored in the application of CDS to support their professional work in service to their own clients or organization.
OUR PRACTICE LEADS
Don Simpson - Toronto, ON
Founder & Mentor
Don Simpson is a seasoned veteran of change and innovation. He has been an educator, consultant, change leader, and entrepreneur in over seventy five countries. A former Principal of two consulting companies and founder of several non-profit organizations, he was also a Professor at Western, where he initiated the first Office of International Programs at a Canadian University and was the founding Director of the Centre for International Business at the Ivey School. He was also closely involved in the creation of IDRC and was a Vice President at the Banff Centre. Since 1998 he has been leading The Innovation Expedition – a journey to better understand innovation, which has led to the development of the Renaissance Expedition.
Keith Jones - Victoria, BC
CDS Master Practitioner & Mentor, CDS Learning Program Co-Lead
As a management consultant in the last 24 years Keith has facilitated numerous dialogues that engage diverse groups to address complex challenges in an effective and efficient manner. To support this work, Keith is a skilled practitioner of the Challenge Dialogue System™ (CDS) and Theory of Change methodologies. These approaches draw strongly on the principles of collaboration, building trust, systems and design thinking, learning, and the power of purposeful conversation. In total, this mix of principles, processes and tools align closely with and complement the goals and approaches used to support collective impact.
Tom Ogaranko - Edmonton, AB
CDS Master Practitioner, CDS Learning Program Co-Lead
Tom Ogaranko leads transformative change with high performing teams focused on complex challenges. Over his 24-year career, he has founded, built and exited multiple technology companies in advanced technology industries. He has advised several provincial Governments, Canada, and France on innovation policy and has been involved in structuring three crown agencies involved in research, innovation and technology development. Tom has assembled and structured $900 mm of investment funds for stimulating and growing innovative capacity for public and private clients. Tom is a frequent adviser to the Government on policies to grow ICT, biotechnology, genomics and cleantech sectors. Tom has also actively advised some of the leading innovative companies in Canada's pharmaceutical, energy, telecommunications and technology sectors.
Steve Murgatroyd - Edmonton, AB
CDS Master Practitioner
Widely regarded as one of the leading experts in Canada on e-learning, he acts as Chief Innovation Officer for Contact North/Contact Nord and in this capacity has developed a four module training program for educators, instructional designers and technology providers on methods and approaches to e-learning. He has undertaken evaluations of programs and institutions offering e-learning across Canada and in the United States and continues to develop and teach graduate and undergraduate level courses in business offered through e-learning. He has been directly involved in distance education and e-learning since 1972, first as a Senior Counsellor with the Open University (1972-1985) and then as Dean and Professor at Athabasca University (1986-1998) and as an Executive Director at Athabasca University (2003-5).
OUR VALUES
Engage in dialogue not debate
Build
trust
Nurture collaboration
Embrace
Ambiguity
Seek agreement
OUR ACCREDITED PRACTITIONERS
The CDS Practitioner Network comprises a steadily growing complement of diverse CDS Practitioners.
OUR PARTNERS
CDS has been built into service offerings and/or is a critical piece in these organizations:
BECOME A PRACTITIONER
If you would like to become a Challenge Dialogue System Practitioner, fill out the form below and a member of our team will get back to you.