Duncan's Blog: Conference Keynote - Collaboration & Adapting to Change

By Jordan Meates • 04 April 2025

ASRA were delighted to be joined by Monday's Keynote Speaker, Duncan Stevens, behavioural psychologist, performance coach, and best-selling author to talk about the key themes and takeaways from his session...

Duncan Stevens

Behavioural psychologist, performance coach, best-selling author & keynote speaker

Duncan Stevens

Behavioural psychologist, performance coach, best-selling author & keynote speaker

https://duncanstevens.com/

Can you give us a brief overview of your Opening Keynote for ASRA 2025?

For the ASRA conference in 2025 I will be speaking about collaboration and adapting to change specifically in the higher education market in the context of high performing teams.

What inspired the topic of your session at this conference?

After several discussions with the event organisers, the team decided that in light of the rapidly evolving and changing higher education market which is struggling to attract students, increasing levels of debt for students, job losses and job cuts, and demotivated teams, as well as the ever increasing needs of students such as neurodiverse people it's important that we come together collectively and collaboratively to navigate our way through these changes. To do that we need to think differently. Why, because if we keep doing what we've always done we'll always get what we've always got. In order to act differently we need to think and feel differently. To think and feel differently we need to paint different pictures inside of our minds (the minds of the ASRA attendees) and equally cultivate a mindset for success with the team we work with.

What’s the key message or takeaway you hope to share with the audience?

There are several key takeaways or messages that I'm hoping to share with the ASRA audience. First is how do we come together collaboratively to work with both the private and public sector, and equally how do we get a little bit closer to our clients, customers, and students to understand not just what they want but what they need. If we enter conversations with more curiosity, empathy, and a healthy dose of courage to try more, trust more, and ask more, we might find we can lean into change with more confidence.

I truly hope that the audience will leave more confident to lead and indeed lean into change. The world has never been more volatile, unpredictable, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) as it is now. We need to take risks and experiment and if we fail we don't see ourselves as a failure, and if we make a mistake we don't see ourselves as a mistake.

We need to consider why do we do things this way, how can we make them better, and have we got to champion these changes. It's creating a culture of curiosity and creativity - how do we step outside of our comfort zones and explore and embrace the ever-changing higher education student accommodation market. How do we think about doing things just that 1% better, and how do we take ownership for elevating the industry.

What excites you most about delivering a training session at ASRA?

I'm excited about delivering a session with ASRA because every time I've worked with employees within the education sector they're always fun and will hopefully engage with my interactive sessions.

How does the topic of your session reflect current trends or challenges?

If I shared current trends or challenges today, you can bet they will be different tomorrow. It's important we move away from the mentality that we are in a new normal. There is no new normal so we need to co-author, co-create a future together which is brighter. We need to become more responsible, I don't just mean responsible I mean response able when the wind changes, we need to learn to change with it not get blown off course.

If you had to describe your speaking style in three words, what would they be?

Interactive, Inspiring, Educational

What’s a surprising or little-known fact about you that might come up during your session?

A little-known fact about me is that although I am a behavioural psychologist and performance coach in a past life I was a professional mentalist, harnessing the skills of psychology, influence and persuasion, which I weave into my keynotes.

What’s one thing you never travel to a conference without?

The one thing I never travel to a conference without is a roll of black electrical tape to stick over the little flashing lights in hotel rooms from the TV or smoke alarm to help me get a better night's sleep.

Connect with Duncan on LinkedIn, or explore his services on his website at https://duncanstevens.com/