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Mountain Quest Institute

Mountain Quest Institute is a research and learning center dedicated to working with individuals, groups and organizations to achieve growth, understanding and high performance in this age of change, uncertainty and complexity. Nestled in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia, this 450 acre mountain retreat (www.mountainquestinn.com) offers the opportunity for individuals and groups to relax, reflect, learn, enjoy their surroundings and interact with others to better comprehend important aspects of our organizations, our world and our lives. Every day is a new day.

Our Mission

Through research, professional services and workshops create learning experiences for individuals and organizations to help them achieve and sustain high performance in a rapidly changing, uncertain and incredibly complex world.

The MQI Knowledge Associate Network

Knowledge management has taught us that a single individual, or several individuals, do not always have the knowledge at their fingertips that they need. While rigorous research can usually solve this circumstance, vericating a thought process is a time-honored process for ensuring the richest possible outcomes in research. Verication is the process of consulting a trusted ally, that is, having an interaction, a dialogue, with a trusted source of information, often an individual who operates from a different frame of reference, to discover new insights and opportunities. In every way possible, MQI attempts to exemplify in the process of research and implementation of research the same behaviors the process of knowledge management represents. The Knowledge Associate Network provides the opportunity for face-to-face and virtual interaction with other leaders in the KM field as well as thought leaders and practitioners in related fields.

Our living network includes the following areas of expertise: organizational development, human development, human and organizational systems, information and document management, organizational memory, information architecture, social change, social psychology, management and leadership, systems engineering, enterprise management, engineering management, engineering law, decision-support systems, education systems, intelligence, security management, business and network development, program management, physics, technical management, nuclear engineering, strategic planning, total quality, system dynamics.

Institute Profile

The Institute is dedicated to working with individuals, groups and organizations to achieve growth, understanding and sustainable performance. Learning, exploration and dialogue are the sources of knowledge and wisdom. As T. S. Eliot says so beautifully: We shall not cease from exploration ... and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. See The MQI Learning Environment.

MQI believes that by exploring answers to the most basic questions about ourselves, our organizations, and our world, we can develop the insight, judgment and understanding needed to grow personally, meet professional challenges, and achieve sustainable high performance. This new awareness and understanding helps each of us and our organizations survive, grow, and contribute in the complex present and future world.

The Institute is built on and promotes high ethical and moral standards, respect for all individuals, taking responsibility for the future, lifelong learning, and collaboration and knowledge creation and sharing. These principles--coupled with hard work, passion and integrity--represent the foundation for success and a better world.

Alex and David Bennet, the co-founders of the Institute, brought their ground-breaking work on developing a new theory of the firm to maturity with the publication of Organizational Survival in the New World: The Intelligent Complex Adaptive System (ICAS) (Elsevier, 2004). The ICAS concept enables organizations to react more quickly and fluidly to today's fast-changing, dynamic business environment. ICAS, based on research in complexity and neuroscience--and incorporating networking theory and knowledge management--turns the living system metaphor into a reality for organizations. As Dorothy A. Leonard, Harvard Business School and author of Wellsprings of Knowledge says, "If you want to know how the latest thinking about organizations all fits together to provide a roadmap of the future, you will want to read this book. It is provocative and original.

Download a Capabilities Summary (Power Point, one page)

Professional Backgrounds of the Founders:

Alex Bennet, internationally recognized as a leader in knowledge management and an agent for organizational change, was the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Enterprise Integration with the role of Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) for the United States Department of the Navy. She was also co-chair of the Federal Knowledge Management Working Group, leading implementation of KM across the federal sector. Alex initially joined the Department of the Navy as Editor and Public Relations Manager in Yokosuka, Japan. Before becoming CKO, she served as Acquisition Reform Executive and Standards Improvement Executive. Alex, who received her Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems, has degrees in Management for Organizational Effectiveness, Human Development, English and Marketing, and graduate certificates in Total Quality Management, System Dynamics, Project Management and Defense Acquisition Management. She is a member of Delta Epsilon Sigma and the Golden Key National Honor Society. Among her many honors, she is the recipient of the Department of the Navy Distinguished and Superior Public Service Awards, the National Performance Review Hammer Award from the Vice President, and the National Knowledge and Intellectual Property Management Task Force Award for distinguished service and exemplary leadership.

David Bennet was co-founder, CEO, and then Chairman of the Board and Chief Knowledge Officer of a professional services firm specializing in engineering management, information technology and organizational development. He has extensive experience in private industry, civil service and the military in the areas of strategy, change management, leadership, facilitation, systems thinking and complexity thinking. Dave was the technical director of two major Department of Defense acquisition programs, and did fundamental research at the Office of Naval Research. He has taught extensively and developed and implemented a major leadership program for the Department of the Navy. He authored the DOD's acquisition virtual learning course on integrated product teams, designed and developed a comprehensive CD guide and flight simulator, and received the National Performance Review Hammer Award from the Vice President for his work in developing Defense metrics. David is a Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Pi Sigma, and Suma Cum Laude graduate of the University of Texas with bachelor degrees in Mathematics and Physics and master degrees in Nuclear Physics and Liberal Arts.

For their story, see The Wonder of Nature, Life and Learning (MSWord, 6 pages)

Contact Information

Telephone: 304-799-7267
FAX: 304-799-0861
Location: Frost, West Virginia
Postal address: RR 2, Box 109, Marlinton, WV 24954
Electronic mail: General Information: vramos@mountainquestinstitute.com; Partner: alex@mountainquestinstitute.com; Webmaster: adean@mountainquestinstitute.com
Retreat web site: www.mountainquestinn.com

This Web Site copyright 2005 by Alex and David Bennet. For educational and knowledge sharing purposes in the context of knowledge management, permission is given to copy and distribute materials on this web site with attribution.