I am developing these short online courses as an experiment in finding new ways to explore and share my work on Conversational Leadership, conversation, knowledge, and related ideas.
They are not conventional training courses with lots of content to work through or tests to complete. My aim is to offer something lighter and more reflective: a series of short modules that introduce an idea, invite you to think about it, and encourage you to experiment with it in your everyday work and conversations.
The courses draw on ideas I have been developing and writing about for many years, but they also serve as a way for me to further develop those ideas. Like much of my work, I expect them to evolve over time.
What are the courses about?
The courses explore different aspects of Conversational Leadership and the role that conversation plays in how we think, learn, make sense of complexity, build relationships, and get things done together.
Some will focus on practical conversational habits and practices. Others will explore broader ideas about leadership, knowledge, dialogue, collective thinking, and the growing role of AI in our conversations.
The aim is not to give you a set of techniques or tell you the right way to have a conversation. It is to help you pay more attention to conversation, think more deeply about how it works, and experiment with small changes in your own practice.
How do the courses work?
Each course consists of a series of short modules. Rather than giving you the whole course at once, the modules become available gradually, giving you time to read, reflect, and perhaps try out some of the ideas before moving on.
The courses are designed to be taken at your own pace. There are no tests or certificates. You can simply work through them in whatever way is useful to you.
I also hope that the courses will become conversational rather than simply one-way. I will be interested in your thoughts, questions, disagreements, and experiences. Your feedback will help me improve the courses and develop the ideas behind them.
How does it work in practice?
- You need to be logged in as a registered user of the site before you can enrol on a course.
- Once you have enrolled, you will receive one new module each week.
- You can choose the day of the week on which you would like to receive each module.
- Each course consists of a number of modules. Most will be quite short, typically around six modules, so a typical course will last about six weeks.
- Each new module will be made available to you on the site, and you will receive an email to let you know when it is ready.
- You can pause a course at any time and resume it later.
- You can also cancel your enrolment at any time.
What do the courses cost?
For now, the courses are experimental and the initial courses are free.
I want to learn what works, what people find useful, and how the format might develop. At some point, I may make a small charge for some future courses, but for the time being I am simply inviting people to take part, explore the material, and, if they wish, help me learn from the experience.
The first course, “Rehinking Conversation,” is coming soon.