Critical thinking is frequently misunderstood as either an academic luxury or a negative exercise in skepticism. In reality, it is a practical framework that bridges raw data and strategic action, serving as the essential scaffolding that allows organisational creativity to be refined into viable innovation. This foundation is built upon eight core professional capabilities: The...
We are often asked how we think about AI, not just in the programmes we deliver, but in how we run our own operations. If we advise clients on AI adoption, we ought to have some internal practice to point to. We have been working with AI internally since late 2022. What began as conversations...
To understand why critical thinking matters so much today, it helps to begin with two modes of thought. System 1 is fast, automatic, and intuitive. It helps us respond quickly, make snap judgments, and move efficiently through daily decisions. System 2 is slower, more deliberate, and more effortful. It helps us pause, examine assumptions, weigh...
Since we are in the Raya month as I write this, I am reminded of a story from a two-day training of The Business Storyteller™. Everyone was tasked to find stories in their days, weeks, months, years. And this group, a fund investment company, just could not find stories. They declared everything was BAU – Business...
In a lighter moment during a discussion, the team reflected on an observation from the field: pricing is not always driven by underlying cost, but by perception and positioning. Whether it was food pricing or programme benchmarking, the same principle applied – labels, context, and framing influence what clients perceive as “reasonable”. It is a...
My first week of training this year was almost entirely filled with sessions on Compact Slides and One-Pagers™. That surprised me. With AI tools now able to generate slides in seconds, you might expect demand for slide visualisation training to slow down. If anything, the opposite happened. In class, we still see the same challenge: extremely...
What stood out most about this recent virtual programme was not just the scale, but the shift. With more than 30 participants joining from six different countries, the session brought together a diverse international group for a focused exploration of problem solving with AI. It could easily have become another broad, passive virtual workshop. Instead,...
Artificial Intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept; it is the current reality of the professional landscape. While AI excels at rapid data processing and automation, the true competitive edge lies in the human ability to apply critical thinking to its outputs. This evolution is driven by eight essential leadership strategies: The Result? When you...
What stayed with me most was the attention to detail in every object I saw. I found myself looking closely at each piece and imagining the lives behind them. There was so much care in the way they were made. Even something as ordinary as a comb carried beauty and intention. It made me reflect...
There’s something about Mughal Islamic art which speaks to me. There’s perfection – order, symmetry, intention. And then there’s life – messy, emotional, human. Both exist, side by side. I see the same tension in how we train and facilitate. We strive for excellence with thoughtful design, clear structure, and strong delivery. But it doesn’t...