Game Changer Academies is a family of professional development programs, providing comprehensive strategies for improving discussions and decision-making. The programs are built around a core curriculum designed to:

• Cultivate productive group discussions
• Mitigate cognitive shortcuts
• Engage multiple perspectives
• Approach conflict constructively

GCA helps make innovation more possible by investing in the discussion and decision-making processes. Better discussions bring more of the relevant expertise in the room into the discussion, including alternate perspectives and understandings. Better discussions set the stage for better decisions. GCA participants study and develop a set of skills that facilitate that result. In this way, they expand the space and possibility for innovation.

GCA is designed with faculty in mind: people who are already highly trained to synthesize data and information and translate ideas into action through complex, adaptive, and continually evolving discussions with peers.

GCA provides individuals with skills and knowledge that increase capacity to serve in all aspects of the life of a faculty member:

• Navigating interactions with colleagues in department meetings, faculty committees, funding panels, etc.
• Empowering individuals to address cognitive bias and unproductive group dynamics
• Taking on leadership roles and seeking new opportunities to effect change within their institutions, disciplinary societies, governmental roles, and more

Finding the Right Program for You

Specific programs are designed to meet different developmental needs and levels. Knowledge in the focus area is important – but by itself that is not enough. Part of the challenge of this kind of professional development is transferring the knowledge into practical skill. For that reason, many versions include a group discussion component. Example forms of GCA include:

• 12-week, immersive, cohort-based program: This version is designed to work with groups that have no prior training in this arena and do not know each other, yet are focused on the same kind of work. It includes asynchronous content and regular discussion group meetings for content integration. See GCA at NSF for a specific example, where the focus was improving funding panel discussions to increase innovation. This form can accommodate small to very large cohorts.
• 4 to 6 month program for working groups: Intended for groups of related participants, this version supports specific organizational and/or team development. It includes asynchronous content and regular discussion group meetings for content integration. This form can accommodate small to medium cohorts.
• primarily asynchronous version: This is the most easily accessible version. Courses are offered online, and participants have much flexibility in when they engage. It focuses on content knowledge, and does not include regular discussions for content integration. This form can accommodate any number of participants.