The Teacher
Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson is the recognised world authority on teaching thinking in English and is the creator of ENGLISH THINKING: Learn-To-Think in English, Lessons One to One Hundred. He is the Founder and Principal of the School of Thinking. He is also the world’s first Doctor of Lateral Thinking. Dr Hewitt-Gleeson is the Founder of the School of Thinking China and has personally taught more people how to think in English than anyone else in history.
•
Michael Anthony Hewitt-Gleeson (born Melbourne 1947) is an Australian cognitive scientist and author of the classic best-selling coursebook on neuroplasticity called Software For Your Brain (1989), ISBN 09473511088. He first published his invention of the universal brain software known as the digital switch cvs2bvs or cvs to bvs in 1984 (NewSell, Boardroom Books, New York, 1984). cvs2bvs is based on Hewitt’s-Gleeson’s First Law of Thinking which states: the current view of the situation can never be equal to the better view of the situation.
• ACADEMIC •
Hewitt-Gleeson is an acknowledged world authority on lateral thinking who has four published titles on Lateral Thinking. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Cognitive Science, International College, Los Angeles (1980) with an association with New York University (NYU). In 1980, Cambridge Professor Edward de Bono was Hewitt-Gleeson’s tutor for the world’s first PhD in Lateral Thinking in which he proposed The Theory of Newsell. His examiner was the distinguished Professor George Gallup, Founder of the Gallup Poll, Princeton. At that time Professor Gallup wrote, “Newsell may be the first new strategy for selling in 50 years”. He has been a Council Member of The Leadership and Learning Council at Melbourne Grammar School since 2006. In 2005 he was appointed by Victorian Premier Steve Bracks as an Ambassador for Think Victoria and Club Melbourne. He is the first Visiting Academic Fellow in Innovation Thinking at the Biosciences Research Division of the Department of Primary Industries at La Trobe University (2007).
• MILITARY •
Hewitt-Gleeson is a third generation Australian returned serviceman following his father and grandfather who both served in the 2nd AIF in World War II. Based on his military training and service as a Vietnam vet, Dr Hewitt-Gleeson utilised this experience to design a “train-the-trainer” strategy for School of Thinking. He contends that, compared to business training, military science has evolved, over thousands of years, some very robust training strategies because of the pressure of a much stronger bottom line. In the 1980s he was the first to apply these strategies to accelerate the dissemination and teaching of thinking skills in the Learn-To-Think Project in North America. This “train-the-trainer” strategy has now become the biggest and fastest growing model in the world for teaching metacognition. When Edward de Bono first saw it he described Hewitt-Gleeson’s model as “brilliant“. Dr Hewitt-Gleeson is one of only 1800 Australian national servicemen who shared in the Scheyville experience. He also served in the 1 ATF (1968-1969) during the Vietnam War.
His military experience and awards include:
• Corps Medal, The Veterans Corps of Artillery (VCA), State of New York (New York 1990)
• Flying Officer, Royal Australian Air Force, (Melbourne 1969-1974)
• Language Instructor, Vietnamese and Allied Cultural Association (Vung Tau 1968)
• Vietnam Medal (Vung Tau 1968)
• Vietnam Campaign Medal (Nui Dat 1969)
• Jungle Training Centre, Canungra, Queensland, Australia, Graduate (1968)
• Officer Training Unit, Scheyville, NSW Australia (non-graduate 1968)
• Australian Active Service Medal (1995)
• Australian National Service Medal (2002)
• Australian Defence Medal (2007).
• BUSINESS •
Dr Hewitt-Gleeson has been an international consultant on strategy and sought by organizations and corporations from the United Nations, and the White House to IBM, Fujitsu, BMW, Jack Welch of General Electric, AMP, Telstra, Vodaphone, Saatchi & Saatchi, Australian Institute of Sport and St Kilda Football Club. He has lectured widely in many nations including Canada, China, Bermuda, Indonesia, Tahiti, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Netherlands, Mexico, Spain, France, Israel, Japan, Italy, Greece, Malta, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. He is a Patron of Marie Stopes International Australia. He is a member of The Melbourne Savage Club.
• AUTHOR •
Hewitt-Gleeson is a best-selling author of books and numerous articles on English thinking, selling and leadership. His work has been featured in Forbes, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Personal Success (cover story May ’91), Readers Digest, Wall Street Journal, GQ (cover story), The Australian, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, The West Australian, BRW, Financial Review, Australian Anthill and many publications. He has been featured in numerous radio and television programs and internet blogs worldwide and he can be googled here. His books are:
• Learn-To-Think: Coursebook and Instructor’s Manual (Co-author Edward de Bono) (1982), ISBN 0884961990
• NewSell (1984), ISBN 0932648568
• Software For Your Brain (1989), ISBN 09473511088
• NewSell 2 (1990), ISBN 0947351221
• Software for the Brain 2: Handbook for Lateral Thinkers (1991), ISBN 0947351388
• THINK: An Action Program for Lateral Thinking (1993), ISBN 0947351515
• THINK AGAIN: A Brain Users Guide to Lateral Thinking (1993), ISBN 0947351515
• SELL: the lateral thinkers’ guide to selling and leadership (1993), ISBN 0947351639
• Clever: A Coursebook for Clever Thinking (1993) ISBN 0947351671
• The X10 Memeplex: multiply your business by 10! (2000), ISBN 0724801111
• WOMBAT SELLING: how to sell by word of mouth (2006) ISBN 1740664280
