𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝟕𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐁𝐏 / 𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 was like a 🎄🎁!
A big thank you to Ewa Lombard, PhD for an excellent 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 session in our peer forum.
With almost record participation (25+ IBP / IBSing practitioners), the session clearly exceeded already high expectations. For me personally, it felt like an early Christmas present — full of inspiration, learning, and fun ✨.
Ewa started with a fundamental reframing:
Our brains are not built to optimise — they are built to regulate uncertainty.
🧠 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 “𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐨 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐬”
𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐬 decide with limited information, limited cognitive resources, and under emotional load. Our brains continuously predict, compare, and learn from errors.
🔮 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞
Decision-making is about reducing uncertainty enough to act — not about finding the perfect answer. Beliefs about the future strongly shape what we see as possible.
🧭 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞
From calculable risk (automation, KPIs, optimisation),
to reducible uncertainty (expert judgement, forecasting),
to 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 (collective intelligence, imagination, foresight).
Many organisational tensions stem from applying the wrong decision logic to the wrong level of uncertainty.
🔄 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭
From optimisation → robustness,
from prediction → sense-making,
from individual expertise → collective intelligence.
🗺️ 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲
𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 – 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 – 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐢𝐭 – 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝.
Emotions are not noise — they signal where we are on the uncertainty spectrum and shape what futures we can even imagine.
Insights from the 𝟓 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐬
Situations of 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 (e.g. pandemic, tariffs, major strategy shifts, material shortages)
⚡ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝
Early on: action-taking, experimentation, scenarios, often with little data.
Later: more structure, standard processes, KPIs, and optimisation as predictability increased.
🎯 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝
From survival → stability → improvement and thriving 🌱.
💬 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝
From fear and overwhelm, to tension with motivation, to pride, relief, and accomplishment.
𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 gave many participants a shared language for everyday IBP challenges — and a reminder that strong IBP means 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 we are actually facing.
🙏 Thank you for joining our network for learning, co-creation and strengthening 𝐈𝐁𝐏 in our organisations.
🎄 𝓗𝓪𝓹𝓹𝔂 𝓗𝓸𝓵𝓲𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼, I am looking forward to many great 𝐈𝐁𝐏 / 𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 2026 (𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵)! 🚁