From Maximy
Upgrade how you think. Change what happens next.
A podcast series and a wider campaign about improving and strengthening how we think. On our own, with each other, and with technology.
Think better, and you have better conversations. Better conversations make better decisions. Better decisions build a better future.
Humanity has extraordinary intelligence, creativity and capability. We are also human.
Our thinking can be biased, emotional, tribal and overconfident, shaped by people, technology, culture and environments we may barely recognise. And the consequences of our thinking have never been greater.
From the choices we make in our own lives to decisions affecting organisations, countries and the planet, the quality of our thinking shapes the quality of our future.
The one question
How can we all think better about the things that matter most?
Not by telling people what to think. By helping all of us become better at how we think.
Underneath the series
Through The Thinking Upgrade, we want to help people turn concern about the future into the capacity and commitment to improve it.
Our ten interconnected enablers provide a practical framework: helping us care enough to engage, create time for what matters, understand ourselves, think better together, imagine a better future and take action to build it.
It starts with what matters to you, and what you're prepared to contribute, question and change your mind about.
Look at what you could stop, simplify, share or hand to AI. Then decide deliberately how to use the time you free up.
Your beliefs, values, emotions, habits and experiences shape what you notice, and how your impact lands compared with what you intended.
Your profile is a starting point for growth. From there, practise questioning assumptions, weighing evidence and seeing connections.
Psychological safety, trust, curiosity and constructive challenge open thinking up. Interruption, distraction and pressure to agree close it down.
Listen closely, ask useful questions, challenge with care, and notice when your own assumptions are getting in the way.
What would better actually look like, and for whom? Picture success, wellbeing and positive impact together, trade-offs included.
Know your starting point, choose your priorities, decide what to leave aside, and be honest about your assumptions.
What you create, buy, support and stand up for all count. So does noticing when good intentions produce unwelcome consequences.
Activity isn't the same as progress. Look at results, listen to those affected, and decide what to continue, change or stop.
Each enabler strengthens the others. Caring gives you a reason to make time. Knowing yourself shows where your thinking needs to grow. Action gives you experience, and reviewing it helps you improve. Start wherever your need is greatest.
Part One · Seeing More Clearly
General Sir Richard Barrons
The journey begins with a confronting view.
Richard sets out what has changed, what is at stake, and how little time he believes we have. He explores what could move humanity away from that edge, and what politicians, senior leaders and each of us can do.
Content warning: This episode explores themes that some listeners may find distressing. Listener discretion is advised.
Recorded on 7th September 2026
Shirley Attenborough
In this episode, we're joined by Shirley Attenborough, an accredited master coach and expert in workplace psychology, who has spent years coaching some of the world's biggest businesses to get the best out of their leaders and employees.
Together, we explore what it really means to be self-aware, why it can be so difficult to see ourselves objectively, and how bridging that gap can help us improve our thinking.
Everyone. You don't need to be a philosopher, scientist, politician or CEO to shape the future.
We all share one extraordinary home: Earth. No one else is coming to decide its future for us.
None of us thinks, decides or acts in isolation. We need each other to think better.
Through
Behind the podcast
Co-host
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