I’m Randall Benson and I created this blog as a resource for change leaders and possibility thinkers.   I’m a management consultant, executive coach, author and occasional speaker.  I like to think of myself as a guide for corporate quests.  In my guide role, I help leaders and their teams apply the principles of the quest and navigate the journey of transformation and breakthrough.  I’ve worked with leaders in a wide range of organizations, including healthcare, insurance, travel, aviation and manufacturing.

I’ve been absolutely spellbound by the concept of the corporate quest for over two decades.  I have a compelling mission to discover how corporate quests play out and how to tap their power as transformation tool.  My fascination has fueled work on my book, The Quest Effect, and the creation of this Quest Effect blog. 

My attempts to apply the quest in my consulting work are the result of the confluence of my original vocation, process transformation, with my avocation, mythography (myths, myth theory and myth-based psychology).  My two interests eventually merged into the idea of the corporate quest. 

I see the quest as a journey that begins with a call to adventure and progresses beyond the business-as-usual threshold and into uncharted territory.  On the journey, pathfinders undertake trials, build new capabilities and ultimately achieve breakthroughs.  Upon mastering their discovery, they can share the prize, thus sparking renewed vitality within the organization. 

Corporate quests yield effects (ergo The Quest Effect) that amaze me; quests result in major breakthroughs and new sources of vitality for my clients.  I’ve come to believe that the quest effect is real, much more than a metaphor, and that knowledge of the quest will fundamentally change the way we think about breakthrough and transformation.  

When I’m not pursuing the quest with my clients, I live with my wife and dogs in the San Juan Islands in Washington State.  There I occasionally find time for boat exploring, outdoor photography and writing.  I love history travel and have enjoyed retracing the Lewis and Clark Trail and exploring sites in Britain that are connected to quest mythology. 

I earned a B.A. in Economics from Western Washington University and went on to receive a M.B.A. in Operations Management from the University of Washington.  My study of the quest began in the 1980’s after being introduced, by pure chance, to the legends of King Arthur by the groundskeeper at Glastonbury Abby.  Before long my newfound passion had drawn me into psychology, history, evolution theory, complexity theory and so on.  I keep discovering more unexplored territory.  That’s what makes life meaningful.

Quest Effect^® is a registered trademark of Randall Benson