Mountain Quest Institute is a research and learning center dedicated to working with individuals, families and organizations to achieve growth, understanding and high performance in this age of change, uncertainty and complexity. Nestled in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia, this 430 acre mountain retreat (www.mountainquestinn.com) offers the opportunity for individuals and groups to relax, reflect, learn, enjoy their surroundings and interact with others to better comprehend important aspects of our lives, our organizations and our world. Every day is a new day.

Our Mission

Institute Profile

Learning, imagination and dialogue are the sources of knowledge and wisdom, essential to achieving growth and understanding, and the source of sustainable performance. As T. S. Eliot so beautifully says: We shall not cease from exploration ... and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. See The MQI Learning Environment.

We at Mountain Quest believe that by exploring the most basic questions about ourselves, our organizations and the world, we can develop the insight, judgment and understanding needed to grow personally, meet professional challenges, and achieve sustainable high performance. This new awareness and understanding helps each of us—and the organizations we support—survive, grow, and contribute in the complex present and future world.

The Institute is built on (1) high values and moral standards, (2) respect for all individuals and recognition of the interconnections among all people, (3) taking responsibility for the future, (4) lifelong learning, and (5) collaboration and knowledge creation and sharing. These principles—coupled with hard work, passion and integrity—represent the foundation for success and a better world.

Alex and David Bennet, co-founders of the Institute, brought their ground-breaking work on developing a new theory of the firm to maturity with the publication of Organizational Survival in the New World: The Intelligent Complex Adaptive System(ICAS) (Elsevier, 2004). The ICAS concept enables organizations to react more quickly and fluidly in a fast-changing, dynamic business environment.

Download a Capabilities Summary (Power Point, one page)

Professional Backgrounds of the Founders:

Dr. Alex Bennet, internationally recognized as a leader in knowledge management and an agent for organizational change, was the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Enterprise Integration with the role of Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) for the U.S. Department of the Navy. She also served as co-chair of the Federal Knowledge Management Working Group, leading implementation of KM across the federal sector. She is currently a Professor with Bangkok University's School of Knowledge and Innovation Management, and is a member of the International Advisory Board of the World Capital Institute, the organization that created and administers the Most Admired Knowledge City (MAKCi) awards. She is also a member of The Monroe Institute Professional Division (Consciousness Studies and Practices) and a reviewer for The Journal of Knowledge Management.

Alex initially joined the U.S. Department of the Navy in Japan as Editor and Public Relations Manager for the Yokosuka Naval Base. Before becoming CKO, she served as Acquisition Reform Executive and Standards Improvement Executive for the Acquisition workforce. Alex, who has a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems with a focus on knowledge and knowledge management, has degrees in Management for Organizational Effectiveness, Human Development, English and Marketing, and graduate certificates in Total Quality Management, System Dynamics, Project Management and Defense Acquisition Management. She is a member of Delta Epsilon Sigma and the Golden Key National Honor Society. Among her many honors, she is the recipient of the Department of the Navy Distinguished and Superior Public Service Awards, the National Performance Review Hammer Award from the Vice President, and the National Knowledge and Intellectual Property Management Task Force Award for distinguished service and exemplary leadership.

Dr. David Bennet was co-founder, CEO, and then Chairman of the Board and Chief Knowledge Officer of a professional services firm specializing in engineering management, information technology and organizational development. He has extensive experience in private industry, civil service and the military in the areas of strategy, change management, leadership, facilitation, systems thinking and complexity thinking. Dave was the technical director of two major Department of Defense acquisition programs, and did fundamental research at the Office of Naval Research. He has taught extensively and developed and implemented a major leadership program for the Department of the Navy.

David authored the DOD's acquisition virtual learning course on integrated product teams, designed and developed a comprehensive CD guide and flight simulator, and received the National Performance Review Hammer Award from the Vice President for his work in developing Defense metrics. David is a Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Pi Sigma, and Suma Cum Laude graduate of the University of Texas with bachelor degrees in Mathematics and Physics; master degrees in Nuclear Physics, Liberal Arts and Human and Organizational Systems; and a Ph.D. in Human Development with a focus on neuroscience and adult learning.

The Bennets publish extensively. They are the authors of Organizational Survival in the New World: The Intelligent Complex Adaptive System, a new theory of the firm based on research in complexity and neuroscience that turns the living system metaphor into a reality for organizations (Elsevier, 2004).  This book is available through Amazon and as an eBook from Amazon Kindle.  In 2007 they worked with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to co-author Moving from Research to Action: Knowledge Mobilization in the Social Sciences and Humanities, a methodology focused on moving research from the University lab to the playgrounds of communities (MQI Press, 2007). Over the past several years their inside and outside worlds have collided, resulting in the publication of two eBooks titled The Journey into the Myst (available through Amazon) and Patterns in the Myst (available through Amazon). Much of their work is connected to and downloadable throughout this website.

For their story, see The Wonder of Nature, Life and Learning (PDF, 6 pages)

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