Tirian: Innovation Consultancy and Facilitation

13/04/2026

Critical Thinking for 5,000 Leaders at ANZ Bank
Gaia Grant (PhD) and I are looking forward to working with the ANZ Academy, in partnership with Saxton Speakers Bureau, to deliver a session and follow-up learning journey for a masterclass series for up to 5,000 of their leaders. Our focus will be on supporting the development of Critical Thinking - particularly in an AI-augmented world.

To tackle this challenge, we will be showing how to bridge the gap between enterprise strategy and personal mastery:
A) The Organizational Blueprint: We’re diving into the JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) Harvard Case Study to see how a global giant transitioned 200,000+ employees into a culture of rigorous, human-led oversight to manage AI integration.
B) The Individual Challenge: We’re exploring the "why" of skill survival - focusing on reclaiming critical cognitive agency so that human intelligence remains the primary driver and architect of innovation.

The core challenge? AI provides the speed, but humans must provide the oversight and direction. We’ll be using Tirian’s frameworks to ensure leaders move from being "output validators" to the "pilots" who determine and drive high-stakes decisions.

What we will focus on in this Masterclass:
1) Practical Models & Frameworks: We provide a toolkit of proprietary models, including our 'Strategies for Innovative Development' design thinking model, to turn abstract critical thinking into repeatable, everyday habits.
2) Escaping the "Auto-Pilot" Trap: Identifying where individuals and teams become susceptible to cognitive biases and default to automated outputs without scrutiny.
3) Forensic Critical Thinking: Developing the personal mastery to expose the logic gaps AI misses, ensuring human judgment remains in control.

In an era of cheap intelligence, the ultimate competitive advantage isn't the tech you use - it's the depth of your thinking. If you’d like to see how we can support your team's critical thinking and help you navigate the AI landscape, please reach out. We’d love to discuss how our frameworks can be tailored to your goals.

See more about this session here: https://tirian.com/key-topic-suites/create/the-creative-process/

27/01/2026

AI has reset the baseline for "average." If your leadership team is relying on LLMs for strategy, you may be falling into the "Fixation Effect." Our latest investigation uses the CSI framework to reveal why human Creative Intelligence (CQ) is now the ultimate strategic differentiator. Is your team leading the machine, or is it leading you? https://open.substack.com/pub/andrewgaiagrant/p/the-death-of-average-creativity-lessons

16/12/2025

AI adoption isn’t just about tools — it’s about culture. In my new Article, I explore why ambidextrous leadership matters. Vote below and read the full piece here.

Developing the leadership capabilities required for implementing AI responsibly and at scale

30/11/2025

Gaia Grant and I are honored to have been invited to present research on Ambidextrous Leadership – Leading in the Age of GenAI along with a case study on JPMorgan to senior executives from China’s largest bank. We'll will be joining our partner who will present on Implementing AI along with a case study on DBS bank.

Developing the leadership capabilities required for implementing AI responsibly and at scale. The question of whether every company today must become a “tech company” is no longer rhetorical. It seems to have become a pressing reality. From banking to automotive, from retail to energy, leaders e...

27/10/2025

How Creativity Intelligence Helped One Toyota Tackle Complex Industry Challenges:
Honored to deliver the keynote in a series of sessions for One Toyota, which included all of Toyota's brands. We combined our CSI Creative Intelligence presentation with an extended hybrid workshop to tackle the toughest challenges in the car and mobility industry.

Our partner, Dr Lloyd Irwin, skillfully designed & facilitated the two-day conference, ensuring a seamless flow with the highly interactive keynote message by building on the collective knowledge of the entire group and the executive leaders. It was inspiring to see how creative thinking can fuel innovative solutions in this fast-evolving sector.

Using our Creative Intelligence (CQ) framework, we empowered teams to navigate complexity and collaborate effectively - making it a powerful approach for solving wicked problems that require diverse perspectives and adaptive thinking. We have now been able to support several market leaders in this industry, including Mercedes-Benz, Daimler, SIAC Motors, MG, Rockwell Automotive, SG Fleet, Rolls-Royce, and Boeing.

Curious how creative thinking and CQ can unlock new possibilities? Explore our approach here: https://tirian.com/key-topic-suites/create/creative-thinking-fundamentals-who-killed-creativity/

01/10/2025

Global Innovation Index 2025: What It Really Tells Us About the Future of Work and Leadership.
Innovation isn’t just about patents or spend. It’s about the conditions we create to unlock human potential. The most resilient ecosystems embrace paradox — balancing creativity with discipline, speed with sustainability.

In this article we’ve just written, we explore how culture shapes innovation at every level. Worth a read for anyone driving change.
Substack https://andrewgaiagrant.substack.com/p/innovation-at-a-crossroads
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/global-innovation-crossroads-andrew-grant-awqkc
Tirian https://tirian.com/articles/is-global-innovation-at-a-crossroads-gii/

What the Global Innovation Index GII 2025 Reveals About Our Future “The fastest-advancing economies are those that view innovation as a fundamental engine of resilience, growth and competitiveness.” WIPO Director-General Daren Tang, GII 2025 The Global Innovation Index 2025 reveals rising nation...

09/09/2025

Strategy often fails before it begins. This article explores why a Pre-Strategy Workshop can surface hidden tensions, align leadership, and set the stage for real impact. A must-read for anyone designing strategic offsites or innovation sprints. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrewgranttirian_strategy-often-fails-before-it-begins-this-activity-7370975165783916545-r-Ru?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAGIXhoBv6qviSXqspIeLNGUjJI9ulCjPLM

02/09/2025

Innovative Leadership Session at HHP Law Firm: Why a Pre-Strategy Workshop Might Be the Most Strategic Move You Make.

Before launching into a full-scale strategy day, we recently partnered with a leading law firm in Indonesia (HHP Law Firm, member firm of Baker McKenzie International) to run a Pre-Strategy Workshop—and the results were transformative.

Partners were preparing to lead their own future-focused planning session. But before diving into visioning and roadmaps, we helped them pause and align. Using Tirian’s iCLi profiling tool, we surfaced each leader’s innovation orientation—revealing where they naturally lean toward exploration vs preservation. This wasn’t just interesting—it was essential. It allowed the team to anticipate where tensions might arise and where collaboration could thrive.

Many professional services firms face competing demands such as: balancing regulatory rigour with client-centric innovation, and managing internal governance while exploring new service models.

To navigate this, we introduced 2 tools:
A) A Competing Demands Collaborator Canvas - to define and explore the challenges, and then
B) an Innovation Racing Line Collaborator Canvas—a strategic planning tool that helps teams map the most effective route forward by identifying the “racing line” through complexity and paradox.

This enabled the group to:
- Visualize competing priorities without oversimplifying
- Strategically position themselves for both agility and stability
- Build a shared language for innovation and ex*****on

The Pre-Strategy session didn’t replace their strategy day—it supercharged it. By aligning leadership styles, surfacing paradoxes, and building strategic muscle memory, the team was ready to lead with clarity and confidence.
If you're planning a strategy day, consider what happens before the planning begins.

The right tools and conversations can make all the difference to see how your team can prepare to lead from the front:
- Article: Why a Pre-Strategy Workshop Might be the Most Strategic Move You Make- https://lnkd.in/gN4BdWAT
- Explore the Collaborator Canvases https://lnkd.in/gwtS8PMm
- The Innovation Racing Line Canvas: https://lnkd.in/g6PkS6m5
- The iCLi profiling tool: https://lnkd.in/gUfUGVVp
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01/09/2025

Igniting Innovation. Leading the Future.
In a world of constant disruption, innovation isn’t a luxury—it’s a leadership imperative. At Tirian, we design immersive programs that go beyond theory to spark real transformation.
From gamified simulations to validated leadership frameworks like iCLi, Tirian equips teams to navigate complexity, embrace ambidextrous thinking, and lead with purpose. Trusted by global market leaders for over 30 years, our work empowers organizations to not just adapt—but to shape what comes next.

Coming soon: The Change-Ready Capabilities Checklist (Dr Gaia Grant & Andrew Grant, 2026)—a practical playbook for preparing individuals, teams, and organizations for accelerated innovation and complex change. Designed to complement Tirian’s INNOVATE suite or stand alone as a powerful workshop tool.

If your team is navigating complexity or preparing for transformation, Tirian’s innovation programs offer the frameworks and tools to lead with confidence. Explore what’s possible at tirian.com.

27/08/2025

Title: Leading Through Complexity — Insights from Lenovo Accelerate 360
Last week, Gaia Grant and I had the privilege of presenting a joint keynote at Lenovo’s Accelerate 360 event in Sydney, where over 200 leaders and partners gathered to explore what it means to lead with clarity and purpose in a digitally complex world.
Gaia shared powerful insights from our research into innovation readiness—highlighting how organisations can build cultures that embrace uncertainty and foster sustainable change. I complemented this with strategic leadership frameworks designed to help executives navigate disruption and complexity with confidence.
What stood out most was the energy in the room: a collective hunger for practical tools, evidence-based thinking, and meaningful conversations about the future of leadership. From the breakout sessions to the post-event dialogue, it was clear that the appetite for purposeful innovation is stronger than ever.

03/07/2025

WARNING: Relying on Google during brainstorming may be killing our creativity.

A recent study in the journal Memory & Cognition highlights a study from Carnegie Mellon showing that teams with access to search engines during ideation sessions actually produced fewer original ideas. Why? Because they converged too quickly on the same predictable answers—falling into what’s known as the “fixation effect.”

This insight struck a chord with me. In our book 'Who Killed Creativity?' (Co-authored with Dr Gaia Grant (PhD), we explore how creativity is often stifled not just by fear or failure, but by subtle, everyday habits, like over-reliance on digital tools. When we default to search engines, we risk outsourcing our imagination and narrowing our thinking.

We've seen in our workshops how powerful it can be to step away from the screen and create space for ambiguity, curiosity, and divergent thinking. That’s where real innovation begins.

Here’s a simple shift I recommend:

1) Start ideation sessions offline—no devices, just dialogue.

2) Encourage raw, unfiltered thinking before refining.

3) Use digital tools later to build, not to begin.

If we want to lead creative teams, we need to design environments that protect and provoke original thought. Sometimes, the best way forward is to unplug.