ROBIN COOK is a seasoned organizational development, innovation, and culture change professional with 27 years of experience.  Robin is the creator of "The Molecular Model," a diagnostic tool for organizations, accepted for the International Human Resources Development Conference in Bangalore in October, 2001.

Robin most recently worked as an Organizational Development Specialist at JigZaw, Inc., a startup Internet software development and organizational consulting firm focusing on Work/Life Balance.  In this capacity, he was responsible for developing the internal culture and providing external organizational culture change/innovation consulting services.  

Robin is trained and highly skilled at implementing Dee Hock’s Chaordic Theory (one of few in the world with this distinction).  Chaordic Theory enables companies to quickly become organizations that harmoniously blend the  characteristics of competition and cooperation, smoothly combining theoretical and experiential learning and leading to create chaordic (empowered) success.

Robin received his B.A. in Philosophy at 19 and his M.A. in Human Relations at 21, both from the University of Oklahoma.  He worked for 6 1/2 years for the city of Chicago, where he designed, and implemented the first effective CETA program monitoring system in the history of the program’s operation, supervising up to 60 staff. 

Robin served as Director of Local Planning for the YMCA (Y) of Metropolitan Chicago where he spearheaded a successful culture change.  He was instrumental in the Y’s receipt of the 1998 George Land World Class Innovator Award.  During his tenure, the organization’s budget doubled to over $100M/year, and its numbers of people served more than tripled to over 1M/year.  Robin also co-designed and facilitated innovation/ creativity/visioning workshops which led to the establishment of a permanent "Imagineering" function within the Y. 

Robin has performed in several Improv groups, and has often applied Improv techniques to group process and workshop settings.

Robin has always been a change agent, from his earliest years.  At the age of 8, he received the Key to the City of San Diego for petitioning to place a traffic light on a hazardous corner in his neighborhood.  Throughout his life, he has continued to be extremely active in a wide variety of social and political action organizations and activities, including the Chicago Chapter of New Jewish Agenda and his Alderman’s committee to design the structure for the community side of the initial Chicago Community Policing (CAPS) pilot.

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