This document discusses generating creative solutions to complex legal problems. It advocates for the use of empathy, networks, tangibility tools like mind maps, lateral thinking, analogies, and various resources on creativity. Two profiles are provided for John DeGroote, a former general counsel and current mediator/arbitrator, and Kate Canales, a research professor focused on building creative capacity in organizations through human-centered design.

1. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC
Ideas, Approaches and Alternatives
Generating Creative Solutions
to Complex Legal Problems
NOV 21, 2014
The General Counsel Forum

2. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC 2
Empathy
• More than a
“nice to have”
• Generates new
alternatives
• Essential to
negotiation
success

3. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC
Networks
3
• Take you places,
if not directly
• Are a foundation
to professional
success
• Can give you
more than just
a network

4. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC 4
Tangibility
• The
Commonplace
Book
• The Mind
Map
• The White
Board

5. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC
“
“
Lateral Thinking
You cannot
dig a hole in a
different place
by digging the
same hole
deeper.
- Edward de Bono
5

6. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC
Analogies
“
“
Analogies, it
is true, decide
nothing, but
they can make
one feel more
at home.
- Sigmund Freud
6

7. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC
Resources
7
• Nancy C. Andreasen, "Secrets of
the Creative Brain”
• Rex Jung, "Creativity and the
Everyday Brain”
• Steven Johnson, "Where Good
Ideas Come From: The Natural
History of Innovation”
• Tom Kelley & David Kelley, "Creative
Confidence: Unleashing the
Creative Potential Within Us All”
• Josh Linkner, "Disciplined
Dreaming: A Proven System to
Drive Breakthrough Creativity"

8. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC
Resources (cont’d)
8
• Michael Michalko, "Cracking
Creativity: The Secrets of
Creative Genius”
• Dan Pink, “A Whole New Mind: Why
Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future”
• Melanie Pinola, "How to Use
Mind Maps to Unleash Your
Brain's Creativity and Potential”
• Shane Parrish, "An Introduction
to Creativity”
• Creative Something
• Creativity at Work
• Farnam Street
BLOGS

9. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC9
Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC 9
John DeGroote is a former global company general
counsel now serving as a mediator, arbitrator and
court-appointed trustee in significant business disputes.
He believes that hands-on leadership, early matter
assessment, and aggressive project management drive
results.
• Serves as mediator and arbitrator in significant business disputes.
• Appointed to serve as the Liquidating Trustee to the BearingPoint, Inc. Liquidating Trust by the United
States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
• Served from 2000 through 2008 as the Chief Litigation Counsel to KPMG Consulting/BearingPoint; led
a team of over 40 in-house lawyers around the globe as the Company's Chief Legal Officer from 2008
through late 2009, when he became the Company's President.
• Serves as a privately-appointed corporate officer and director in select situations.
• Previously practiced with the law firms of McKool Smith, P.C. and Jackson Walker, L.L.P., with a focus
on complex technology, commercial, and intellectual property litigation matters against and for various
Fortune 500 companies.
• Received his mediation training from Pepperdine University's Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution in
2005. Has participated in over 200 mediations in approximately 20 states as a client executive, as
outside or in-house counsel, and as a party.
• Serves as a co-founder to online decision tree tool ResolutonTree.com and comments on litigation
management, settlement techniques and negotiation strategies at settlementperspectives.com.
• J.D., Duke University
School of Law, 1990
• B.A., Mississippi State
University, 1986
John DeGroote
President, John DeGroote Services, LLC
Hickory Street Annex
501 S 2nd Avenue, Suite A-700
Dallas, Texas 75226
office 214 • 887• 3484
cell 214 • 288 • 6864
jd@johndegroote.com

10. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC10
Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC 10
Kate Canales is a research professor focused on
building creative capacity inside organizations. She has
a background in product design, mechanical
engineering, and design research and she studies
and teaches the ways we innovate on the basis of
human needs and behavior.
• Serves as a Research Professor and the Director of Design and Innovation Programs in the
Caruth Institute for Engineering Education at the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern
Methodist University.
• Teaches several design courses, including Human Centered Design and Building Creative Confidence.
• Responsible for integrating empathy and creativity into the technical engineering curriculum.
• Previously worked as a designer and design researcher at IDEO and as a Creative Director at
Frog Design.
• Author of various works appearing in GOOD magazine, The Atlantic, and The Journal of Applied
Behavioral Science.
• Key client relationships include Memorial Sloan Ketterling Cancer Center, Procter & Gamble, The
National Health Service of the UK, AT&T, T-Mobile, UNICEF, and the YMCA of the USA.
• B.S., Mechanical
Engineering, Stanford
University, 2000
Kate Canales
Research Professor, Southern Methodist University
kcanales@smu.edu

11. Copyright © 2014 John DeGroote Services, LLC