Stewart's Roots
Back in the 1990s Stewart experienced first-hand how big company bureaucracies can turn off their people's passion and dampen their commitment. Instead of just accepting this reality he set about changing it, initially as an internal change agent within his then employer British Airways and later as a line manager in customer services.
The Lumina Story
Why did Stewart Desson want to create Lumina Learning?
The birth of Lumina Learning
After much dialogue and collaboration with a close group of long standing colleagues, academics and business leaders, the Lumina Learning proposition was conceived - to help organisations move on from the old transactional approach where people were viewed as 'human doings', instead finding creative ways for organisations to truly value their people as 'human beings'.
After a little more dialogue, we honed this into Lumina's BIG IDEA - 'to help organisations see people, their most valuable natural resource, not as human doings, but as human beings'.
Embracing Paradox in your Personality
One of the unique aspects of Lumina Learning's approach is the humanistic idea of embracing paradox. The Philosopher Bertrand Russell said
"The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it."
For example, I am sure we have all made the simple observation that in any team there can be team members who seem to have diametrically opposed personality traits. When these team members are able to value each other's differences, teamwork can flourish.
The paradox Lumina Learning has found is that this principle also holds true when an individual holds diametrically opposed personality traits within themselves. In fact, we have found that in personal and professional development, individuals who are willing to look inside and embrace a little of their own diametrically opposed personality traits can significantly improve their personal effectiveness.
