The Back Story

The story of The Elevator’s origins actually goes directly back to the man who coined the term lateral thinking -  Edward de Bono. Amongst other things, he created the Six Thinking Hats which is still a popular training tool in use today. DeBono’s protégé and then business partner for 25 years was Australian Michael Hewitt-Gleeson.

Michael is recognised as the world’s leading authority on lateral thinking through his pro bono organisation The School of Thinking, which has to date delivered over 9 million lessons. Author of a dozen books, and creator of X10 thinking, Michael spent much of his career in the US, including 10 years advising Jack Welch of GE, during which time the business grew from 4 to 40 billion dollars.

Nick McDonald founded The Elevator on the teachings of Michael Hewitt Gleeson having been trained by him personally. Nick holds a Diploma in Lateral Thinking from the School of Thinking, being one of less than a hundred people in the world to do so.

Michael maintains an advisory role with The Elevator and is available for lectures and key-note addresses.  Watch him here address the fear of making mistakes.