Context changes everything: how constraints matter

Session type:

Keynote

Presented by:

Alicia Juarrero

Co-Founder and President, VectorAnalytica

Session time:

30 Sep 09:45 — 10:45

Session duration:

60 minutes

About the session

Everyone and their brother are now claiming weird powers for things they label "context" and "constraints," especially "enabling constraints." What is the context that really matters for purposes of decision-making? What exactly are enabling constraints and why do they matter? Why does understanding complexity require radical rethinking — from the roots up?

Participant Takeaways:

Evolution is different from development.
Complexity cannot be simplified or reduced to one-size-fits-all matrices, loops, chokepoints, or rules
Discovering the future means reshaping the terrain, not moving the same pieces around the existing landscape.

About the speaker(s)

Alicia Juarrero

Alicia Juarrero is an internationally renowned writer, scholar, and professor. Professor Emerita of Philosophy at Prince George’s Community College (MD), she is the author of Why Context Matters (2025), Context Changes Everything (MIT Press, 2023), and Dynamics in Action: Intentional Behavior as a Complex System (MIT Press), as well as co-editor of volumes on emergence and complexity.

A U.S. Professor of the Year, she also served on the National Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities, including as Chair of its Committee on State Programs. She has held visiting appointments at Georgetown University and the University of Miami.

Dr. Juarrero is Co-Founder and President of VectorAnalytica, applying complexity science to real-world challenges, with work recognised by the White House Office of Science.

LinkedIn

Pronouns: She/Her