APM event hosted by the Midlands Network on 11 April 2024. Speaker: Carole Osterweil Data is power. AI changes everything. If the claims about both are true, how can we ensure we use data and AI well? And what does it mean for the very things which make us human - our feelings? In this workshop Carole will draw on material from her ground-breaking book, Neuroscience for Project Success: why people behave as they do to answer both questions. “We like to think our decision making is completely rational. However, once there's an element of uncertainty, conscious assessments are only part of the story. Two other inputs, both subconscious and driven by our innate need to survive, have a big impact. One, automatic reactions driven by cognitive biases, gets plenty of airtime. The other input, our raw visceral emotions might be scary to talk about and less understood - but that’s not a reason to pretend they don’t exist!” This interactive workshop will draw on material from Carole’s book, Neuroscience for Project Success: why people behave as they do, published by APM in 2022. You’ll come away with: a clear understanding of how the human brain works. a framework that: explains ‘why people behave as they do’. makes it easier to talk about feelings in a matter-of-fact way (so that they become part of your conscious data set) new insights into yourself and your projects in a world that’s often characterised by stress and disorder. Act on these insights and you’ll see the impact - on your teams and stakeholders, your decisions about how to use data and AI, and ultimately your project outcomes.

1. If AI changes everything,
do feelings still matter?
Carole Osterweil
APM Midlands SIG
April 2024

2. Innovating with AI
where are you?
1. A lot of talk
2. Nursery slopes – experimenting
3. Could do a lot better
4. Masters

3. How do you feel about it?
1. Excited
2. Ambivalent - not sure
3. Anxious - a bit worried
4. Very worried - fearful

4. 3 Big Questions
1. How do we use it wisely ?
2. Who should be in charge – man or machine?
3. What does it mean for the things that make us
HUMAN - our feelings?

5. ▪ Why people behave as they do
▪ Stress: individual & systemic
▪ Reflect
▪ Your projects, yourself & your
decisions
▪ Back to the 3 questions
Better Outcomes , Higher Productivity & Less Stress

6. How the brain works
where are you starting?
1. I know nothing
2. I did a bit on it at school
3. I’ve read a lot about it / studied it Uni
4. It informs everything I do

7. The Brain in the Palm of your Hand
Dan Siegel

8. 80-90% of information flows
from the body to the brain
Your Body is Your Brain (2018)
“Thinking of the brain as the top-down
command centre is about as outdated as
believing the world is flat”
Amanda Blake

9. What does this start to explain?

10. High Performance Turns Toxic
“We asked about building high performance
project teams and found a recurring theme of
brutal cultures and mental health issues”
ICCPM Roundtable Report Project Leadership 2019
Performance
Stress/ arousal
Stress - Personal & Systemic

11. Excess Stress Creates the Project Stress Cycle

12. 45
Where have you seen the cycle/ part of it play out?

13. Adaptive Leadership Heifetz
What’s the Solution?
It’s tempting to look ‘out there’
for more data

14. Decision Making & the triple strand of
influences
What’s my automatic
reaction? (cognitive
biases/ heuristics)
How do I feel about it?
(raw, visceral emotions)
Have I seen this before?
(rational assessment)
Hillson & Murray Webster 2007

15. Start by looking ‘in here’
Self-awareness at a different level
• How am I feeling and behaving?
• How about my energy levels?
• How online is my Thinking Brain

16. Where am I/are you on this curve?
thinking brain online?
Performance
Stress/ arousal
Start feeling
‘in the zone’
Start feeling
‘uncomfortable’,
VERY POWERFUL
FEELINGS
Overwhelm &
Out of Control
Just Right
Calm - not tired
Alert - not anxious
• Fight
• Flight
• Freeze
and talk about it

17. thinking brain online?
4 steps for Power Skills & Co-regulation

18. Any
Questions
(before I tie it back to AI?)

19. Who should be in charge ?
Source: ICCPM: Uisng Data Analytics
for Informed Decision Mkaing in
Complex Projects , 2023
Human
Primacy
Machine
Primacy

20. “AI frees time for activities requiring
human interaction”
• Teams
• Strategies
• Stakeholders
• Complex Decision Making

21. Add in the activities requiring
human primacy
We need our Thinking
Brains online even
more!
So YES, feelings still
matter !

22. Don’t ASSUME your Thinking Brain
is fully online all the time!
Learn to
get it
online

23. Any
Questions
(before I tie it
back to AI ?)
www.linkedin.com/in/caroleosterweil
www.visibledynamics.co.uk
scan QR code
or visit
apm.org.uk/books
(don’t rely on Amazon)