Shireen Chua, PhD
Cultivating inclusion, belonging, and long-term sustainability in an increasingly complex world.
Shireen Chua, PhD, is a leadership and culture alchemist working at the intersection of organizational development, culture, and vertical learning. Based in New Zealand and active across the Asiaā€“Pacific region, she brings more than 15 years of experience coaching and facilitating leaders as they navigate the complexity of multicultural organizations. Shireen is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Waikato, where she blends rigorous academic research with playful, experiential approaches to leadership development. Her work uses game-based experiences and action inquiry to surface hidden assumptions, challenge immunity to change, and build adaptive leadership capacity.Ā
When Cultures Clash, Immunities Surface: Game-Based Action Inquiry for Adaptive Leadership
This session explores how game-based experiences can make immunity to change visible, discussable, and actionable in real time. Guided by Shireen Chua, participants experience how moments of tension, especially when cultures, values, or perspectives collide, reveal the hidden commitments and protective behaviors that quietly block change.
Using dialogue and game-based tools such as intercultural question games and the 2030 SDG Game, the session demonstrates how play can surface assumptions, competing commitments, and mental models as they emerge. Participants examine how these insights can be used through action inquiry to shift perception, expand perspective, and support adaptive leadership. The focus is on designing learning experiences that turn resistance into learning and defensiveness into adaptability.
Takeaway: Games donā€™t just teach about change. They create the conditions where real change becomes possible.
