The WDHB approach starts with an integrated, customized program jointly designed with the client and rooted in direct experience. A variety of seamlessly coordinated activities stimulate rich personal and group dynamics.

This approach constitutes a better, more effective pedagogical model than traditional academic programs. However brilliant, professors at prestigious institutions generally appeal only to the intellect. Their teaching is often repetitive, rarely coordinates pedagogically, and is not focused on improving participants' individual and collective performance once they return home.

Major corporations and organizations often opt for academic programs offered by reputable universities because of the security that comes with a big name. But this false sense of security and the cachet of a major university can leave participants with a self-satisfaction that may be flattering but dangerous in these times of accelerated change.

Some universities have tried to spice up their executive programs by involving executives from the business community, but an academic approach generally prevails and the atmosphere is not that of real life. Merely lining up a number of such cameo appearances in no way ensures that the progression will be appropriate nor that participants will assimilate and integrate all that might be offered.

Rather than piecing together a smorgasbord of activities, WDHB is, and always has been, in the business of designing, organizing, and facilitating veritable Learning Expeditions. Sixteen years of systematic improvement and refinement go into selecting just the right content, identifying which executives will be most valuable to encounter, punctuating the program with presentations on key concepts and issues, and progressively integrating the learning that occurs each day.

WDHB has developed unique pedagogical methods. The two-hour debriefing each morning and the concluding workshop at the end of the week are both based on highly effective, proprietary methods. Each program is enhanced with activities appropriate to the caliber of participants - typically the executives and high-level management teams of major European companies. WDHB pays particular attention to the flow of the program, group dynamics, shifts in perception, and how participants can translate their insights into action.

During visits to both start-ups and major corporations, participants generally interface with top executives (never with P.R. staff.!) . WDHB's long experience of networking opens doors to meetings with individuals at levels matching or exceeding that of the participants. Yet participants also find it valuable to meet typical employees (for example, by following a morning visit with lunch at the company cafeteria). This enables participants to compare high-level talk with on-the-ground perceptions and reality. Participants also enjoy opportunities to dine and informally converse with local French ex-patriots.

Given WDHB's location and institutional connections (e.g. Stanford, UC Berkeley), academic presentations are easy to secure. Yet in the context of a Learning Expedition, these are best limited to one or two.