Don’t panic: ambiguity tolerance and the case for rewilding work

Theme: Organisational Change

Modern work demands clarity, control and predictability - yet the world keeps serving up uncertainty. 

This session explores feral cognition - the ancient, intuitive intelligence we evolved to navigate the unknown. Drawing on neuroscience, somatics and ecology, we’ll examine how ambiguity tolerance is suppressed in structured environments - and how to reawaken it. 

Expect ideas like ‘soma-signaling’ (how your body interprets risk before your brain), and ‘the ecology of choice’ (why forests thrive and factories fail in complexity). 

This isn’t about tools or frameworks; it’s about reclaiming a way of thinking that’s more instinctive, more adaptive, and far more human. No roadmaps, just a guide for getting lost better.

Participant takeaways

• Recognise how structure suppresses ambiguity tolerance and adaptive thinking
• Understand how emotions precede thoughts in uncertain decision making
• Learn to attune to somatic signals before taking action
• Explore ecological models for decentralised, resilient team cognition
• Reclaim intuition as an evolved tool for modern complexity

This session:

• Has a number cap: 30 participants