Mark Rhodes

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In 1968, the Cleveland Indians announced that they would start the season with an outfield of Tommy Harper, Jose Cardenal and Vic Davalillo. Three center fielders in one outfield! The news reached young Mark Rhodes via the Charlotte Observer. Since his parents had wrenched him out of his hometown in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, Mark had yearned to see his beloved tribe in the World Series for the first time since his birth year of 1954. Finally, it appeared, the Indians brain-trust had found a winning strategy. Surely, who could even get a hit off the likes of Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert and Luis Tiant with a speedy, albeit light-hitting, outfield like that?!

Mark�s goal of playing major league baseball was thwarted somewhat early by his inability to reach base in little league. Still, he read about the big leaguers every chance he could, and over time, events like the NFL draft and the MLB trade deadlines began to interest him more than the games themselves. Over many years of watching his favorite Cleveland teams follow one hopeful strategy after another, he developed a burning curiosity about why people make the decisions that they do. Curiously, he found that people come up with great answers to the wrong questions; that they make decisions while believing they have command of facts that they�ve barely researched; that a healthy group decision-making process is critical, but rare; and that people ignore excellent learning opportunities by failing examine their own decisions gone awry. Even in Cleveland!

Strategy, of course, is entirely a realm of the mind. So is the art and science of Psychology. Mark pursued his interest in strategy and decision-making through academic pathways, acquiring Psychology degrees from Furman, Wake Forest, and Harvard. For the past twenty-five years, Mark has consulted in corporate, government and tribal settings in the areas of strategy, strategic planning, and organizational development. His website is called Strategic Thinking, and can be found at http://www.strategybydesign.org.

He lives in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife Lori and their twelve year old son, a catcher named Quinn.

Please email Mark at [email protected]

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