Q

Tell us a little about yourself and your family, William.

A

As Bill Cosby once said, “I started out as a child.” Some people might say I’m still there, just wearing a “grown-up” costume. That might not be all bad… I love studying and learning from the spiritual traditions of the world, including my own Christian heritage. And all these traditions say, like Jesus did, that unless we become like little children, we cannot experience spiritual fulfillment. So who knows? Maybe I’m ahead of the game.

Anyway, my academic and professional background is a mixture of science, and psychology. At Stanford in the late ‘60s, I opted out of a math-physics major and switched to psychology instead. Fifteen years later, I was head of the innovation program at SRI International (Stanford Research Institute) combining the two: using my group dynamics background to facilitate ideation sessions for hi-tech firms on subjects like New Business Opportunities Using Sub-Micron Ion-Exchange Resins. It helped to have a healthy dose of childlike curiosity — as well as stamina — to get ready for those sessions and then bring out the best ideas from an assemblage of scientists, engineers, marketing and finance folks. All of this came after I had first obtained an MA in Humanistic Psych, and had served as manager of training and development at a company that manufactured gas welding equipment.

When I left SRI in 1987, I started my own consulting firm, the Global Creativity Corporation (GCC). From the outset, I was interested in how personal and corporate values inspired and guided innovation efforts — so the tag line of my company has been putting your values to work. Today, I call that focus Values-Centered InnovationTM, which is how I would define my life’s work.

I married my wife Debra in 1999, shortly after I turned 50. We share a great love of spiritual topics, as well as a desire to give back to the world for all it has given us. We live in India at a multi-faith spiritual community, from which we run a non-profit we incorporated in the United States called the Global Dharma Center. Its mission is to assist people in living and working from a spiritual basis, however they define it.

We have developed and conducted programs on human values — such as truth, peace, love, responsibility, non-violence — that are found and respected cross-culturally (literally, they’re a part of the human DNA). One such program was for United Nations Habitat (one of the major UN agencies) for use with professionals in the water supply and sanitation field in developing countries.

Debra also co-authors most of the materials on values-centered innovation produced by GCC. Our daughter, Shea Lynn, is in her second year at a Bible institute in the United States, devoting herself to serving children in her home town and also assisting us in our innovation work.

Q

What’s the best thing about living in India?

A

There are many “best things” — do I have to choose? In the part of India where we live, I’d say it’s the environment of respect for all religions, and the time to focus on fulfilling my life’s work in the corporate world: values-centered innovation. We have a simple life, living in one main room, with a small kitchen and bathroom — and that’s after having had 3,800 sq. ft homes in the United States. It’s amazing to see how our dwelling is as small as our egos are big, and as big as our egos are small. A good learning environment for developing deeper love — and a good sense of humor!

Q

What did you originally "want to be when you grew up"?

A

As a teenager in high school, I thought I’d go to college and be a chemical engineer. Then I went for a physics-math major… then on to psychology (figure that!). But I never wanted to be a psychologist or counselor. So my first job was as a high school math teacher — it was the only thing I was “trained” for in college. Only later, at SRI, was I able to combine my science aptitude with my psych background and come up with a career in corporate creativity and innovation. With my spiritual bent, as well, I told people that I wanted to “continue to grow up” by somehow putting business, creativity and spirituality into the same conversation.

Q

Describe your favorite journey.

A

My most recent favorite journey was a week in Assisi with my wife. I had been there before, but this time was completely different. We stayed in an old monastery that had been converted into a hotel. The town inside the old walls from the 1100s is still has the same street layout, with the same exterior walls (cleaned up, of course). So it’s easy to spend time there imagining what it was like during the days of St. Francis 900 years ago. I had a great time taking photos — not just scenes, but flowers everywhere (my favorite interest is taking macro flower photos).

Q

 What is your idea of perfect happiness?

A

It’s an inner peace with whatever is happening, flavored by an unconditional love that can spur both rest and action — the joy of selfless giving to others.

Q

What is your greatest fear?

A

That I will die before I finish my life’s work, which includes a series of essays that Debra and I are writing, entitled, “What did Jesus mean by that?!” — a project that’s already 5 years old and still fresh, with a long journey still ahead.

Q

Which historical figure to you most identify with, and why?

A

Gautama Buddha — he humbly searched for a richer life meaning, found it, and spent the next 40 years sharing about how to discover that sense of rich meaning for ourselves.

Q

Who is your favorite hero of fiction? Why?

A

I’m tempted to say the two Hardy Boys — my favorites when I was growing up. I loved their sharp minds for investigating and discovering “The secret of ____.” Later, I greatly enjoyed the young 13-year-old hero, Francois, and his uncle in Laurens van der Post’s two novels: A Far Off Place and A Story Like the Wind. The setting was the wildlife areas of South Africa, and the uncle was a game warden who was always teaching Francois such meaningful insight about life, and Francois had such a way of integrating those teachings into his own life. Taken together, they are my favorite characters. I copied so many pages of those two books, wanting to turn them into a photo essay. (I never did, but the memories linger…)

Q

What is your most distinctive characteristic?

A

My wife says it’s a generous spirit, a love of learning, and spiritual devotion. That’s three, even though you only asked for one. Anyway, who am I to argue?

Q

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

A

In writing, it’s “…” and “ — ”. In speech, it’s “ditto.” Anyway — you get the point…

Q

Any regrets?

A

When I was a senior in high school (1966), I was co-president of my Catholic church’s youth group. We were invited by a Jewish youth group to come for an evening at their Synagogue. I misunderstood, thinking they just wanted a couple of us for a meeting — so I had the main youth group off doing some other function. When I showed up and realized that the Jewish youth group had a whole program prepared, expecting our 50-60 members to attend, I was horrified inside at my lack of judgment. Reaching out across faiths was not done so much back then, and I had lost the opportunity — and probably dampened their enthusiasm to do it again.

Q

What is your personal motto?

A

“Love all, serve all.” That embodies the wisdom of so many spiritual traditions, and is a guiding light for the decisions and actions I take in life. It’s the foundation of what I mean by “values-centered innovation” as a theme of my life’s work. Besides, it’s fun!

Copyright © 2008 IEEE