About Us
Nautilus Facilitation Group is a meeting management training and consulting firm. We are experts in navigation for effective meetings.
Our mission
We exist to help leaders improve the effectiveness of meetings through facilitation.
Our values
We have developed a set of values called FACILITATE. They describe how we desire to act on a daily basis with each other, our clients, our partners and our families.
Fun – Have fun. Enjoy life and use appropriate humor to create warm and comfortable relationships.
Accountable – Be responsible. Accept responsibility for all words and actions.
Creative – Imagine. Be inventive and resourceful. Create an environment for others to imagine new solutions and possibilities.
Integrity – Do what you say. Remember what is really important. Model and create an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect.
Listen – Pay attention. Be fully present and truly hear what is being communicated.
Innovate – Look for new ways. Seek new and better ideas. Encourage others and bring forward their ideas.
Trust – Be trustworthy. Be reliable at all times with whatever is entrusted.
Adapt – Adjust when needed. Be able to easily change, as the circumstances require.
Teachable – Continually learn. Be willing to be taught by all. Be humble in the learning process.
Empower – Believe in yourself and others. Inspire others to believe they can make a difference.
The Nautilus Facilitation Group Team
Bill Cook CPF, President
Bill cook is an accomplished facilitator, author, consultant, trainer, and speaker. He is certified as a Professional Facilitator by the International Association of Facilitators. Bill has facilitated over 500 events for government and nonprofit clients and has been writing, presenting, consulting, and facilitating since 1982. He is the author of three leadership and management books, co-author of Creating personal and family values with his wife Barbara Cook, and co-author of Facilitating your own meetings: Essential skills for Managers and Supervisors with veteran facilitator, Pam Gardiol.
Bill holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and has over 30 years of leadership and management experience in local government, banking, hospital administration, and consulting.
Pam Gardiol, Facilitator
Pam Gardiol is President of Gardiol & Associates. G & A specializes in organizational development, process facilitation, leadership coaching, and team development. A sample of her clients includes: 3M, Nordstrom, Corbis, City of Seattle, and the State of Utah. She has over twenty years' experience working with organizations to help them increase individual and collective performance effectiveness.
She teaches at the University of Utah, University of Phoenix and Webster University in graduate business programs. Ms. Gardiol served on Governor Huntsman's (Utah) transition team, and is the co-author of the book, Facilitating your own meetings: Essential Skills for Managers and Supervisors. She holds a Master's degree in Organizational Management and a Bachelor's degree in Social Work and Psychology.
Sue Martin CPF, Facilitator
Sue Martin has worked as a meeting facilitator for more than 13 years, first in a large, national corporation, where she also served as senior director of public affairs, and more recently as President of Co-Creative Works, LLC, where she works with a variety of for-profit and non-profit leadership groups.
Sue holds a M.A. in speech and drama, and a Graduate Certificate in public relations from American University. She is an IAF-Certified Professional Facilitator, and a certified trainer through several organizations. She was named Woman Business Owner of 2003 by the Salt Lake Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
The Story of the Chambered Nautilus
Nautilus is derived from the ancient Greek word for sailor. Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the poem "The Chambered Nautilus" where he compares the sea snail known as a nautilus to the behavior of human beings. He saw the growth of the nautilus and its spiral shell as representation of the intellectual growth of humans. He believed that eventually humans outgrow their protective shells completely and discard them when they are no longer necessary.
Holmes had a chambered nautilus engraved on his personal notebook. Underneath the nautilus were the words "per ampleora ad altiroa" which translates as "through breadth and depth."
The nautilus shell is divided into successively larger compartments formed as it grows. When one chamber becomes too small, it builds a new, larger chamber and closes off the old. This is repeated many times resulting in the spiral shape of the shell.
The nautilus moves about the sea staying afloat because of the air trapped in the smaller chambers. It controls its buoyancy by actively pumping gas into and out of its chambers to sink or float. They are the only shell that swims.
