"The Kitchen Table" Presented by TPI Canada

Gregg Cochlan & Ron Medved

The Kitchen Table purpose is to share with you an engaging dialogue that we hope will reveal the dynamic world of cognitive science and it’s role it plays in performance. For over four decade your co-host Ron Medved and Gregg Cochlan have work with hundreds of organizations to apply cognitive psychology, science and practices to ignite human and organizational performance. 

  1. Jun 19

    #123 Synchronicity: Weird, Wonderful, and Wisdom Worth Exploring-

    We’d love to hear from you please leave a comment Synchronicity is a term coined by Carl Jung to describe a meaningful coincidence—an event where two or more things seem connected in a way that feels significant, even though there is no obvious cause-and-effect relationship between them. Non- Traditional Sources informing Knowledge in the service of Wisdom In our previous episode, Podcast 122, we continued building on the Wisdom Formula and the various models and constructs we've developed over the past several years. In particular, we introduced what we've come to call the Knowledge Construct—a framework that explores how knowledge is shaped by both the quality of information we receive and the sources from which it comes. The construct is built around a simple matrix: reliable and unreliable information on one axis, and traditional and non-traditional sources of knowledge on the other. Our friend Ron Medved was away while much of this work was unfolding, so part of today's conversation is spent bringing him up to speed. In the process, Ron generously shares a personal story that touches on many of the concepts we've been exploring. What emerged was a fascinating discussion about synchronicity, unexpected connections between Ron and Dave's families, and questions that led us into conversations about collective consciousness and the noosphere. We know this territory may feel a little unconventional—or even a bit weird—but it provided a rich opportunity to explore the role that non-traditional sources of knowledge can play in our understanding of wisdom. We hope you enjoy the conversation and that it helps you discover new ways to apply the learnings of The Wisdom Project in your own life.

    41 min
  2. Apr 6

    #122 Knowledge in the Service of Wisdom

    We’d love to hear from you please leave a comment One of the key insights emerging from the Wisdom Project is that wisdom is not the same as accumulating information. When people think of a wise person, they often imagine someone who knows a great deal, and knowledge is certainly part of wisdom. But our exploration suggests that knowledge is only one component, and it is always incomplete. We are rarely, if ever, able to know with total certainty what is really going on. Because of that, wisdom is not about having perfect knowledge. It is about doing our best to gather, assess, and apply information in a way that leads to a response that creates benefit. In the Wisdom Project, knowledge is best understood as being in the service of a wise response. We gather information from diverse sources, weigh it carefully, interpret it through our own experience, and filter it through the maturity construct. The goal is not simply to know more, but to respond more wisely. Two Broad Categories of Information Our discussion suggests that information generally comes from two broad kinds of sources: traditional and non-traditional. Traditional sources include science, research, education, journalism, and other forms of observable or repeatable evidence. Non-traditional sources include intuition, spiritual insight, collective consciousness, and felt knowing. Both can influence how people come to understand the world, but both require discernment. Information Quality Also Matters Not all information is equally trustworthy. Some information is reliable — evidence-based, consistent, verifiable, and coherent. Other information is unreliable — biased, incomplete, emotionally distorted, or shaped by misinformation and disinformation. This means wisdom is not just about finding information. It is about evaluating the source, judging the quality, and using that knowledge in ways that are thoughtful, grounded, and beneficial  This means the challenge is not just to collect information, but to discern the kind of information we are receiving, evaluate its quality, and determine how it should be used.

    59 min
  3. Mar 3

    #119 Sliding Toward Wisdom

    We’d love to hear from you please leave a comment In today’s episode, we introduce what we’re calling the experience slider. Every experience is a stimulus. From there, our response tends to slide in one of two directions — toward cognitive reaction (thinking, analyzing, interpreting) or toward emotional reaction (feeling, sensing, reacting from the heart or gut). Neither side is wrong, but where we land shapes what happens next. Layered onto that is what we call the concern continuum — a mental-state progression that helps us understand how our internal reaction can escalate. Concern is the healthy starting point. It’s awareness with proportion. Something matters, and we’re attentive, but we remain steady and capable of thoughtful response. Worry emerges when concern loops. The mind revisits the issue repeatedly, often imagining outcomes. Worry narrows our focus and can begin to crowd out perspective. Anxiety is worry amplified. The body joins the mind. There is tension, urgency, a felt sense of threat or loss of control. The emotional slider has moved further to the right. Panic is the far end of the continuum — when regulation drops significantly and the nervous system overrides reflection. Thinking becomes difficult, and reaction dominates. In this conversation, we explore how the experience slider and the concern continuum interact — and how the intentional pause between stimulus and response allows us to notice where we are, regain balance, and slide back toward wisdom

    27 min

About

The Kitchen Table purpose is to share with you an engaging dialogue that we hope will reveal the dynamic world of cognitive science and it’s role it plays in performance. For over four decade your co-host Ron Medved and Gregg Cochlan have work with hundreds of organizations to apply cognitive psychology, science and practices to ignite human and organizational performance.