Our Story

In 1994, Dr. Sara Savage began her PhD in psychology at the University of Cambridge. She observed patterns of low and high integrative complexity (IC)—the ability to recognise and integrate multiple perspectives—when comparing rigid and more open moral reasoning. Opposing groups often viewed each other in black-and-white terms, yet some still showed higher IC in areas like compassion. This explained worldview clashes while highlighting potential for growth towards more open thinking.

After the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks, Sara’s colleague Dr. José Liht said: “We should do something.” From that, a flagship intervention (designed to raise IC) was created with EU funding. It developed principles and strategies to move people beyond rigid thinking. A Research Group Director summed it up: “So you’re developing a new way of conceptualising extremism, a new way of tackling it, and a new way of measuring it.”

It took two years to refine measurement tools and facilitator training, but once established the IC method proved effective across contexts—from extremism and sectarianism to post-war reconciliation and education. Testing in thirteen countries confirmed its reliability. The work expanded into embodied cognition, trauma psychology, and neuroscience.

To take the work further, IC Thinking (Cambridge) Ltd was founded. Interventions were delivered in the UK—in schools, youth work, communities, and detention centres—and abroad in Kenya, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Finland, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Kosovo. Each project was co-created with University colleagues and local partners, reflected in published research. By the late 2010s, large-scale international rollouts were planned.

Then, COVID-19 halted all in-person work and a new approach was needed. In 2021, IC Educational (Cambridge) Ltd was formed to deliver IC training digitally. Early projects began in Iraq, followed by Syria. With scalability as a central aim, a custom learning management system was built in-house over two years, enabling the method to be deployed more widely—including new projects in Syria and Nigeria.

Today, IC is applied far beyond extremism. Requests now include sustainability, climate inaction, AI risks, social polarisation, corporate training, and professional development for teachers, policymakers, and public servants. New online programmes translate decades of research into digital practice.

As one neighbour put it, after hearing about IC for five minutes: “It’s a very simple idea. It’s about the how of thinking, not the what of thinking—and it applies to almost every social issue we face.”

That line has since become our strapline.

The IC method was researched and developed at the University of Cambridge between 2005 and 2022.