Unpacking The Uncertainty Toolkit: From kitchen table to Netflix documentary to behavioural change framework
In this session, authors and neuroscientists Sam Conniff (Be More Pirate) and Katherine Templar Lewis (Kinda Studios) chart the journey of their new book The Uncertainty Toolkit.
From a kitchen COVID project to the world’s first interactive documentary, The Uncertainty Experts, funded by Netflix, scientifically proven to change people’s uncertainty tolerance (with an immersive neuroaesthetic soundtrack by Morcheeba) and finally turned into a book, Sam Conniff and Katherine Templar Lewis discuss the journey of bringing together unforgettable stories of smugglers and gangsters with cutting edge neuroscience to create an multimedia experience like no other.
What started as a passion project has now become a fully-blown, evidence-based behaviour change framework perfect for experience designers, whether you’re looking to understand your own audiences or testing your approaches to creativity and business.
Looking to grow your work in 2026? Uncertain of how to approach that challenge? The Uncertainty Toolkit can help.
Come along to a thought-provoking and practical session to kick off Season 15 of WXO Campfires.
About The Uncertainty Toolkit:
What can an ex-gangland boss, a recovering addict and a refugee teach you about thriving in the face of uncertainty?
It’s the ‘Do you have five minutes?’ message from your boss. The ‘We need to chat’ from a loved one. Those spiralling thoughts at 3 a.m. and buzz of yet another breaking news alert. The potential coming waves of AI, climate change and unstable governments.
For most of us, uncertainty is paralysing. But learning to navigate it effectively means more confidence, less anxiety and deeper connection with others.
The Uncertainty Toolkit is a pioneering, evidence-based guide to doing just that. Drawing on the world’s most extensive study into ‘uncertainty tolerance’, led with professors from University College London, it explains the science behind how we cope with the unknown. This research is combined with the radical expertise of an unlikely group of experts – former addicts, hostages, gangland bosses and prisoners – who’ve turned their experience of extreme uncertainty into major mainstream success.
The result is a detailed, practical blueprint that will help anyone turn unpredictability into personal and professional growth.
About Sam Conniff:
Sam Coniff is the author of the international bestseller and ‘modern life-bible’ Be More Pirate, and the writer and co-presenter of Uncertainty Experts. He was the Co-Founder of multi-award-winning social enterprise Livity, pan-African youth empowerment program Digify, and Bafta-winning content studio, Don’t Panic. Sam has won Entrepreneur of the Year, Agency of the Year, The Queens Award and turned down an MBE in 2020.
About Katherine Templar Lewis
Katherine Templar Lewis is a cognitive scientist, neuroscience consultant and science communicator. Co-presenter and lead scientist on The Uncertainty Experts and Audible Originals podcast Beyond Five Senses, she often appears as an expert and contributor across media outputs, including Sky, BBC, NBC, The TODAY show, Radio 4, VICE and the HuffPost. She is co-founder of women-led Kinda Studios and Lab, which translates neuroscience into design to drive wellbeing.
How to watch this Campfire:
- Campfires are available for WXO members only
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- The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
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Timings:
Campfire #1 is suitable for those in the APAC region or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:
- London: 9:55 – 11:25 (BST)
- Paris: 10:55 – 12:25 (CEST)
- Dubai: 12:55 – 14:25 (GST)
- Mumbai: 14:25 – 15:55 (IST)
- Shanghai / Singapore: 16:55 – 18:25 (CST/SGT)
- Tokyo: 17:55 – 19:25 (JST)
- Sydney: 18:55 – 20:25 (AEST)
- Auckland: 20:55 – 22:25 (NZST)