A complex world is patterned but not predictable.

The same is true for complex learning.

We can't anticipate how ideas will connect, or multiply, or inspire.

It is not just cognitive - there are always multiple layers in play.

Small things make a big difference - a single phrase can spark off a whole train of thought.

In practice, this means we have to:

• be open and sensitive
• think carefully about initial conditions
• trust what emerges and hold the empty space
• pay close attention to:
  • framing and start points
  • opening questions
  • boundaries and limits
  • stimulus and inputs
  • energy and mood
• let what happens influence what we do next - within conversations and between sessions
• be willing to explore side tracks or throw in curve balls
• always be designing (we call it 'rolling design')

This would be impossible in an institution.

A course with long lead times, that happens infrequently, with dozens of participants (or more), which relies on expert knowledge, has to be programmed.

But Yellow doesn’t have those constraints, so it doesn't make sense for us.

We are free to flex and adapt - to be responsive, not programmatic.