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About

Introduction: What is IRI?

Insight Resources International, (IRI) is a Human Resources Development NGO.

IRI is in the business of changing lives. We help people build better ways of thinking and self-directed empowered identities through seminars and ongoing coaching. Through our training, we equip people with the cognitive tools they need to engage in life to a degree they were unable to previously attain. Our participants have gained the tools necessary to make drastic improvements in not only their working environment, but also their communities and families as well.

 

What we do: Empowerment of the local individual in local contexts

IRI empowers local people through the development of analytic thinking within their own culture, language, and country. This allows people to take control of the development of their environment based on the cultural context they live in.

In 2005, thinking about thinking became IRI's focus and we have done extended and extensive research that is still ongoing. In these past twelve years IRI has investigated many common issues that plague organizations when operating in suppressed or formerly suppressed cultures. Examples of common conditions among workers in developing countries include:

  • A partial or complete lack of ownership in  projects
  • Mismanagement of funds
  • An inability to comprehend time concepts or work within a schedule
  • Poor or nonexistent planning skills
  • Ignoring or not reporting troublesome issues
  • Failure to implement knowledge acquired through teaching

This list of symptoms may vary somewhat based on culture and location, but the cause is always the same: the people in the culture are not thinking about the tasks at hand in ways that enable to them to develop culturally relevant action. Thus, work only proceeds when forces external to their culture drive action. What we do is teach them how to think analytically and conceptually. This allows them to understand the work they are doing in their context and ultimately empowered them to adapt their perspective and approach to incorporate external ideas into their culture and environment on their terms. This methodology has yielded stunningly positive results.

 

How we are different: Addressing the underlying causes of behavior

Historically, organizations doing development work have sought to modify the behaviors of the locals in the culture in one of two ways: changing their behaviors or changing their resources. While great and honest efforts have been made and good things have been accomplished, ultimately these methods have proved transitory and do not generally stand the test of time. In some cases, the side effects were devastating and quite tragic.

IRI does things differently. We focus on developing those parts of cognition that are essential for identifying and incorporating new concepts.

 

Our Key Insights: Skill, Analytical Reasoning and Loss

We learn something, there are two fundamental parts to the process. The first part results in expertise, the second results in understanding. When we discovered how many cultures had lost the ability to reach the analytic/assimilation portion of the learning process we began to investigate the reasons for the deficiency and help implement necessary ways of thinking to break out of the self-destructive cycles in which many of these cultures endlessly loop.

 

Our Methods: How do we do it?

We believe that every man, woman and child born have the ability for abstract thinking. Our seminars and follow up coaching develop this capacity in people. Our curriculum is solely focused on the participants developing their natural abstract, analytical, and conceptual reasoning skills, forcing their analytical thinking out of dormancy and into action.

Because of this approach, people from various local cultures have been able to adapt the skills and knowledge they have and come up with home grown, local solutions to their problems, and when those in the local culture implement their solutions, they have astonishing results.

 

To learn more about our programs, or to find out how you can get involved or benefit from our seminars, contact us today.

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