What this is

This is a leader-focused session that looks at a different question:

Not: “How do we solve this problem?”

But: “Why does this problem feel impossible in the first place?”

The core idea: “Insurmountable” is not a property of the problem.

It is a cognitive and systemic signal that the current way of thinking is failing

Who this is for

• Senior leaders
• Heads of function / programme
• Anyone dealing with problems that:
  
  • don’t respond to effort
  • keep reappearing
  • feel stuck despite multiple attempts

What happens in the session

Over ~90 minutes:

• Leaders bring a real “stuck” problem
• We don’t try to solve it directly
• We examine how it is being framed, interpreted, and reinforced

The session moves through a structured set of shifts:

From:

• “The problem is too big”
  To:
• “We may be using the wrong logic”

What the session explores

1. The Size Illusion

“Too big” is often a perceptual distortion
(Prospect theory, availability bias)

2. Solving the Wrong Kind of Problem

Leaders often apply the wrong logic to complex problems
(Cynefin, second-order change)

Trying harder within the same frame often guarantees failure

3. The Trap of the Single Frame

Experience creates blind spots

• Einstellung effect
• Confirmation bias

Result:

“We tried everything”
…within the same mental model

4. What Actually Drives the Problem

The issue is rarely where it appears

• Systems thinking (Meadows)
• Reinforcing loops
• Hidden constraints

You don’t fix the problem where it shows up
You fix what keeps recreating it

7. How it’s designed to work

• Less about steps, more about shifts in understanding
• Uses theory as a lens, not as an academic exercise
• Focuses on real problems leaders are already dealing with

The progression is deliberate:

Psychology → Problem type → Cognitive traps → System structure

8. What leaders leave with

Not a checklist.

Instead:

• A reframed view of their problem
• One key assumption challenged
• A clearer sense of what not to do next

And three diagnostic questions:

• Am I treating a complex problem as complicated?
• What evidence am I filtering out?
• What reinforcing loop am I inside?

Download the leader session (PDF) here