Cognitive Gym.
The Global Challenge.
Today's world is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA). To thrive and make better decisions you need to develop the right mental tools.
Your Personal Solution.
Like going to the gym to get physically fit, cognitive fitness is similar because mental performance isn’t a static but a dynamic state that can improve over time. Exercise mental sprints. Establish sustainable routines. Energise your cognitive agility with our suite of cognitive courses. Think better, every day.
Dialogic courses
Developing Organisational and Future-Fit Culture
- Time TBC
- 4 weeks (8 hours total); 1 weekly module
- Instructor Geoff Marlow
- English only
Every organisational community has its own unique culture, which people experience as “the way we do things round here”. Culture is much deeper than these surface level attitudes and behaviours but most models, concepts, and theories are too complex, intangible, and impractical for normal people in the real world.
Fortunately, we humans are naturally equipped to adapt to new cultures. Harnessing this innate capacity is the key to creating a culture that’s fit for an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable future.
Navigating The Complex World Through The Lens of Requisite Variety
- Time TBC
- 2-hour session
- Instructor: Malcolm Cawood
- English only
It's often said that we now live in a complex world, which is often referred to as VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous), a term first coined in 1987. However, back in the 1950s, William Ross Ashby posited something called "The Law of Requisite Variety", where "variety" is characterized as a measure of complexity.
For any "system" (whether mechanical or biological, person or organization), there needs to be a balance between the "variety" out there in the environment and the organization's internal variety.
Better Leadership With Narrative Intelligence
- Time TBC
- 5 weeks (10 hrs total); 1 weekly module
- Instructor: Alexis Niki
- English only
The challenges of today require leaders who can create shared narratives of possibility. We need leaders with high levels of narrative intelligence. Narrative intelligence is about understanding just how fundamental story is to our human existence.
Leaders who understand story as a dynamic human process, a shared reflex, also understand that we ignore the power of story at our peril. This course will awaken your narrative intelligence. You’ll look at what stories are, how they work and influence us, and how we can harness their power to create hope and possibility.
Optimizing Information Flow In Organisations
- Time: TBC
- 4 weeks (8 hrs total); 1 weekly session
- Instructor: John Dobbin
- English only
Why is it that organisations are so terrible at adapting to new situations? And why are so many employees distracted and disengaged? This is a real big problem that affect many organisations. Part of that deeper problem is poor communication and information flow.
In this course we're going to look at the roots of the problem and examine some powerful theories for overcoming it. We'll be looking at information theory, the notion of adaptive information, collective intelligence, collective computation, social physics and more.
Unlocking Focus and Flow in the Knowledge Age
- Weekly TBC
- 4 weeks (8hrs total); 1 weekly module
- Instructor: Jane Piper
- English only
Our human brain power should be a source of advantage in the digital age. Mindless, repetitive work is easily outsourced to automation and machine learning.
Harder to outsource is innovation, collaboration and creativity, so a potential source of competitive advantage in knowledge intensive sectors.
In this course we will explore how we can develop skills of focus and attention, reduce mental and organisational drag so that you and your team can bring your best brain power to your work.
New Perspectives In A Complex World
- Weekly TBC
- 2-hour session
- Instructor: Johan Nylander
- English only
This session is about the greatest break-up the world has ever seen.
The conflict between the world’s two biggest economies is far from being just about trade. It’s a fierce and escalating battle between two ideologies. If the past decades were characterized by globalization, the next may well be all about decoupling: the disintegration of the relationship between the US and China.
However, this session is not about the world going up in flames. It’s about change and opportunities.
