Realms of Attention
Today’s leaders face so many challenges, including finding enough time for thinking, and staying attentive to and informed about the world outside of their own lives and organisations. The world is changing, the future likely to be a very different one from now, and as leaders we need to engage in conversations with people who come from different contexts and who hold diverse views to our own or we can become blinkered to other realities.
I have long been fascinated in the work of Iain McGilchrist (the acclaimed Lecturer, Psychiatrist, Philosopher, and Author of “The Master & His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World”). He
Iain believes that the brain is not a mere machine but an inseparable aspect of our whole selves AND of the culture in which we have taken a part in creating because of the way our brain hemispheres attend to the world.
In other words, the differences in our two brain hemispheres are responsible for moulding the world in which we now live.
So why is this important for leaders? Well we look to leaders to lead on creating culture. We look to them to question, explore and innovate so we can do the same. And if a leader is living in a bubble, they won’t be able to do that. They will shape according to the world they see, but they are only seeing it through their eyes. So it’s only partly real. And so….
In a unique first…
Iain and I have put together a 2 day residential event where we’ll bring together two sets of powerful ideas — The Divided Brain and the Thinking Environment (a values-based philsophy of relationships and communication that helps people to think and generate ideas together) so that participants will be able to engage in fascinating and stimulating discussions about our brains, or worlds, our lives and our future.
And for those who already use the Thinking Environment, it will deepen your skills, understanding and appreciation of this generative, generous way of being with others.
With talks from Iain, hosted and facilitated by me and supported by highly skilled Time to Think colleagues, this will be an experience, not a conference. In fact it promises to be a feast of thinking!
What’s the format?
Over two thoroughly engaging days, we will look at the structure and function of the two brain hemispheres, how they contribute differently to our own experience of the world and indeed how we have shaped the modern Western world because of the way our brain experiences it.
We will blend Iain’s lectures with world café style groups in a Thinking Environment to explore the implications of the Divided Brain in the fields that interest you. For example, you might want to think and exchange ideas about education, commerce, government, health and social care, leadership, society, environment and more.
As well as formal sessions and breakout groups there will be plenty of stimulating conversations with Iain and the group during meals and in the bar after dinner so you will be developing your thinking throughout the two days.
What are the key themes?
Myths — many brain myths abound, including that the left and the right sides of the brain do different things. Yet it’s not the what they do, but the way they do it that matters.
Attention — what we find depends on the kind of attention we pay. And because the two hemispheres attend differently, they produce two kinds of world. Is either world true?
Reality — the nature of the hemispherical differences has some important consequences and we can fail to perceive and experience meaning and the (closest we can get to) full reality of nature and of life. Is “Post Truth” our new reality?
Metaphor — metaphor links language to life yet do some popular metaphors reduce our capacity for insight, for example, the brain as a machine instead as an inseparable aspect of a whole person?
Paradox — paradox is everywhere and perhaps more noticeable in our lives than ever before. For example, in our quest for more happiness, more wealth, more possessions, more connected technology, have we become unhappier, poorer in spirit, where possessions feel worthless and technology disconnects and isolates us from close relationships?
Hope — are we running out of time to save ourselves, humanity, and our planet? Was the surprise Brexit result a manifestation of hope? Is populism here to stay? Are we “shuffling like a sleepwalker into the abyss?” And if we are, what can we do about it?
Who is this event for?
This is a personal and professional development experience open to all who get energy and inspiration through talking and thinking about profoundly important issues. Whatever your profession or area of exploration, we expect that like us you will be keenly interested in questioning the nature of existence and how our world works. And what part we can play in making it better.
How to book?
Limited to 35 residential and 5 non-residential places you can find out more by visiting http://bit.ly/2kp1G5C
How will you benefit?
Access to profound, sometimes challenging information from this unique thinker. Many opportunities to ask your own questions and bring your own thinking to the group. Great conversations, new learning and insights, perhaps unexpected shifts in perspective. Deepening experience of the egalitarian Thinking Environment way of being. Inspiration, new relationships, warmth and fresh connection to a ‘thinking tribe’.
For more information about Iain and me visit:
© Linda Aspey 2017
