The Mission of The Firefly Group

Our Mission
To create an environment for synergistic insights through collaboration, learning, and performance improvement.

Our Vision
All our participants will develop the skills for continuous learning and a commitment to professional development.

Our Name
Why Firefly? Fireflies are self-contained, all-natural energy producers that generate remarkable performance out of all proportion to their size -- much like what you get from working with us!

We Believe in ...

Active Learning - People learn best when they invest their energy and brain power. No one sits through a boring lecture or PowerPoint presentation with The Firefly Group! Everyone participates to enrich the learning experience of the whole group.

Collaboration - With The Firefly Group, participants find challenge, discovery, creativity, and connections. They build upon previous expertise and leave with a plan for future action on the job.

Fun - When people have fun, they relax. When people relax, they forget about all their negative learning experiences at the hands of deadly, dull teachers. Suddenly, they find themselves involved, engaged, and learning!

Results - This is not entertainment! We use humor, fun, and participant engagement to make a point, not to promote ourselves or to make people feel good. If you don't come away with new ideas, insights, or skills, we haven't done our job!

We Provide...

Training of Trainers - Teaching the techniques and strategies to facilitate interactive learning is our specialty. Each year we enhance the skills of hundreds of facilitators at national conferences and public workshops. We can help your presenters and trainers gain the competence they need to create interactive learning that sticks.

Instructional Design - No matter what the topic, we can make it more interactive, more memorable, more engaging, more impactful. We have designed training curriculua for organizations as diverse as the Peace Corps, the Vermont Suicide Prevention Coalition, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, and author Sally Hogshead's new book How the World Sees You.

Leadership Development - Using a combination of the best leadership strategies available, we create a custom approach to leadership development. We work with our clients to identify specific leadership needs and connect those needs with systems thinking, motivation theory, and positive psychology to promote a collaborative organization.

Strategic Planning - Our successful strategic planning process includes Discovery, Analysis, Prediction, Deciding, and Approval. Each step is structured to solicit ideas from all stakeholders and insure their commitment to the long-term goals of the organization. Individuals in the organization also identify their specific responsibilities for implementing the strategic plan.

We Practice what We Promote
Whether it's training presenters and trainers, strategic planning, leadership development, or performance improvement, we use games, simulations, and other interactive strategies to deliver content, inspire thinking, or make a point. There are lots of reasons to use games. Here are just fifteen excerpted from our standard list of "Twelve Reasons Games are Great for Teaching."

Twelve Reasons Games are Great for Teaching

1. Games are fun. They enhance interest and spark motivation in learners.

2. Games are disarming. People are drawn into the play and begin learning before they have time to let their inhibitions about learning kick in.

3. Games build teams. In the activity of play, people create bonds that extend to the workplace.

4. Games provide practice and feedback. People can rehearse procedures and see the immediate results without serious consequences.

5. Games let people try out different roles. People can experiment with different leadership styles before using them in the workplace.

6. Games are memorable; they enhance retention. Games provide a context for what is being taught that is easy to recall.

7. Games have an emotional impact. When emotions are involved, learning is deeper and has a longer lasting impression.

8. Games fulfill multiple needs. They can be used to assess what people need to learn, solve problems, generate ideas, and evaluate what people have learned.

9. Games make abstract concepts more concrete. They provide an in-the-moment application of the ideas being taught.

10. Games teach decision-making skills. Both individuals and teams learn techniques to evaluate data and make strategic decisions.

11. Games encourage holistic learning. You can use games to transfer information and knowledge, to practice skills, or to change attitudes.

12. Games provoke thought on multiple levels. Games can teach factual information but they can also encourage thinking on the deeper levels of "How?" and "Why?"

13. Games provide reinforcement and reward. People can gain immediate satisfaction and accomplishment in their learning.

14. Games appeal to different learning styles. People who read, write, draw, or learn through movement can find an outlet in games.

15. Serendipity! With a well-designed and well-run game, you always get more than you expected!