In this episode, I am interviewing Professor Eugene Sadler-Smith of the Surrey Business School about the role of intuition in decision-making processes.

During our conversation, we discussed the following topics:

1 What intuition is and what it is not
2 The two types of intuition
3 Adopting an Ambidextrous Mindset
4 How to take important decisions in business
5 Carl Jung and Intuition
6 Why the intuitive mind is a slow learner
7 Values and ethics in decision-making processes
8 Final Thoughts - AI and intuition

Eugene Sadler Smith is a Professor of Organizational Behaviour at the Surrey Business School. His research interests include hubris (in leadership, business, and politics) and intuition (in decision-making and creativity).

He published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and his research has featured on BBC Radio 4, BBC Local Radio, Sky TV, The Insight Channel, The Times, The Guardian, and others.

Eugene worked on research and executive education projects with, amongst others, Tesco, Mind Gym, ICSA, CIPD, Met Police, Surrey Police, Welsh Government, Forbes, Home Office and the Scottish Government.

He has written a number of books: Learning and Development for Managers (Blackwell, 2006); Inside Intuition (Routledge, 2008); The Intuitive Mind (John Wiley and Sons, 2010, translated into Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Russian); Hubristic Leadership (with a Foreword by Lord David Owen, SAGE, 2018); Human Resource Development: From Theory into Practice (SAGE, 2022), and ‘Intuition in Business’ (Oxford University Press in 2023).

In the next coming months two new books by his hand will be published ‘The Hubris Hazard, and how to avoid it’ (Routledge), and ‘Trust your gut: Go with your intuition and make better choices’ (Pearson Academic).

The E-Mail address of Eugene Sadler-Smith is: e.sadler-smith@surrey.ac.uk

His website dedicated to the topic of Hubris is: www.thehubrishub.com

Scenario thinking enables organizations to establish possible visions of the future in the form of scenarios. This enables decision-makers to think through the different ways in which the environment of their institutions could evolve in the future, based on different sets of assumptions.
One of the companies that is best known for its scenario-thinking activity is Shell. For decades, Shell’s scenarios have supported the decision-making of Shell leaders, academics, governments, and businesses.

Jeremy Bentham led this activity in Shell between 2006 and his retirement in 2022 as Shell Scenarios & strategy Leader and VP Global Business Environment.
In this episode of the Leadership 2.0 podcast, I am interviewing Jeremy Bentham about scenario thinking and leadership.

During our conversation, we discussed the following topics:

1 What scenario thinking is and what is it not
2 Why organizations should invest in scenario thinking
3 The development of scenario thinking in the past decades
4 The reason for Shell to start sharing (parts of) its scenarios with external stakeholders
5 The importance of engagement
6 Why and how scenario thinking could lead to wiser decisions
7 Strategic character
8 The possible role of scenario thinking in addressing crises our society faces
9 The Dodo club (recently established by Jeremy)
10 Final thoughts on the topic of scenario thinking

About Jeremy Bentham

Jeremy Bentham has a Degree in Physics from the University of Oxford and a Master's Degree in Management from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

From 1980 - 2022 he worked for Shell in various roles and functions, including as Chief Executive for Shell Hydrogen, and later as Shell Scenarios & strategy Leader and VP Global Business Environment, in charge of developing forward-looking scenarios to support strategic thinking and direction-setting.

Currently, Jeremy is Co-Chair (scenarios) & Senior Advisor for the World Energy Council, as well as being involved in several other organizations in the climate and sustainable development space, including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Illuminem, Pathfinder International, and the Mission Possible Partnership.

Additionally, he is a Senior Advisor for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

His interests include theater production, cinema, and art history.

The Dodo Club

Recently, Jeremy started a regular newsletter and vehicle for discussion and community building called 'the Dodo club. The purpose of this club is to help people and organizations make wiser decisions in the face of the radical uncertainties they are facing, including when grappling with issues of decarbonisation and energy transitions.

You can find this club, and sign up for the Newsletter at [https://thedodoclub.beehiiv.com/]

The E-Mail address of Jeremy Bentham is: jbentham@live.com

Additional resources:

Jeremy Bentham: Decarbonisation Scenarios (youtube.com)

Jeremy Bentham: The energy transition (post Illuminem)

40 Years of Shell Scenarios

Scenarios: An explorers guide

In this episode, I am interviewing Vlad Gheorghiu about mental health in the workplace, a highly relevant topic.

Why?

The World Health Organization estimates that 12 billion working days are lost every year due to depression and anxiety. This costs $1 trillion in lost productivity.

McKinsey research showed that ‘60 % of employees have experienced at least one mental-health challenge at some point in their lives’. According to the same study ‘Failing to address the effects of mental health and well-being challenges is a missed opportunity for employers’.

Employees dealing with mental health issues are 4x more likely to say they intend to leave, 3x more likely to report low job satisfaction, 3x more likely to experience toxic workplace behavior, and 2x more likely to report low engagement.

At the same time, classic Employee Assistance Programs do not seem to work…

Vlad Gheorghiu experienced mental health issues firsthand, whilst working for McKinsey.

This experience inspired him to design solutions. First for McKinsey, and later by co-finding a start-up company called Kyan Health.

In our conversation, we covered the following topics

1. Vlad's background
2. Vlad's engagement with mental health
3. The gap in the workplace between the mental health support employees need and receive
4. The concept of Kyan Health
5. Measuring impact
6. Creating a start-up company: Three Dos
7. Creating a start-up company: Three Dont's
8. Vlad's role models as an entrepreneur

Finally, we also talk about his personal experiences as an entrepreneur and co-founder of a start-up.

Vlad’s email address is: vlad@kyanhealth.com

Website KyanHealth: www.kyanhealth.com

Links to relevant (McKinsey) reports:

https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/present-company-included-prioritizing-mental-health-and-well-being-for-all

https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business%20functions/people%20and%20organizational%20performance/our%20insights/the%20state%20of%20organizations%202023/the-state-of-organizations-2023.pdf