Diviner Mind: How Organisations Can Learn from the Indigenous Science of Uncertainty

What if Africa’s knowledge traditions could guide our way through today’s planetary crisis?This is the true story of how Africa’s Ngoma traditions helped shape the sustainable transition strategies of some of the continent’s largest organisations.For generations, Indigenous Knowledge Systems have cultivated resilience, foresight, and adaptability. This book explores how these time-tested ways of training and knowing are being called upon again to meet the uncertainty of disruption.Nicola Robins’ journey started two decades ago when she heard the voice of the spirits while auditing a diamond mine in Australia. Returning home to South Africa, her scientific mind spiralled out of control, forcing a choice between the methods of modern medicine and the call of traditional Africa. Her choice took her into a world where mountains do speak. Her cure carried an obligation to bring what she learnt back to the world of business.When things are uncertain, we can’t predict the future. As the shift to farming brought new risks and uncertainties, traditional African communities used divination, spirits, and ritual to find a way forward. It kept their progress just and within the bounds of nature. This book explores how these ancient cognitive technologies can help organisations navigate change that defies orthodox strategies.Diviner Mind invites readers into a world grappling with disruption, rekindling our natural capacity for sense-making. It offers a compelling view on the challenge of our time: how to navigate uncertainty while bringing Earth’s social, ecological, and cultural systems into renewed balance.NICOLA ROBINSNicola Robins is co-founder of Incite, a consultancy dedicated to sustainable and just transitions. She has spent two decades working with leaders and teams operating in emerging markets, primarily in Africa. A graduate of the Yale School of the Environment, she is a senior associate of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and a visiting lecturer at the UCT Graduate School of Business. A diviner in the Vondo lineage of Southern Africa’s Ngoma tradition, she blends traditional skills into modern processes. Nicola lives in Cape Town, a short walk from the Great African Seaforest. Read more