Please, leave the office.
Rarely do resilient ideas form in conference rooms.
They emerge where strategy meets reality; on the ground.
When teams remain in the comfort of an office,
understanding dims, relevance slips, and impact is lost.
We take teams out of offices and into the field.
CEO's, founders, educators, policymakers, designers.
Healthcare, government, technology, aviation, finance,
global development, education, culture.
The forces that determine success
are remarkably consistent.
We go where those forces are visible.
The complex settings where resilience is actually forged,
relevance is tested, and trust is built.
Only there do the most important systemic
blind spots and opportunities become obvious.
Thinking sharpens, curiosity returns, and insight flows.
What felt stuck begins to spark with possibility.
Teams reconnect with their commitment
to make the work matter more.
What many organizations forget, context restores.
OCULAR leads programs that make systemic impact possible
Designed for organizations that…
Seek impact that lasts.
Have seen the dark side of quick fixes.
Face the pressure of growth and risk of blind spots.
Understand the challenge of sustaining creativity and innovation.
"It felt like stepping outside my comfort zone - but that’s where the breakthroughs happened. We left clearer, braver, and better equipped to tackle the complexity." – Innovation Lead, Global Brand
Places where . . .
Trust is tested - parole hearings, intake desks, customer complaints.
Care is stretched - night shifts, discharge rooms, substitute classrooms.
Belonging is negotiated - housing inspections, election lines, job interviews.
Interdependence is revealed - freight docks, farm crews, call centers.
Adaptability is demanded - broken escalators, legacy IT, emergency workarounds.
Resilience is forged - temp agencies, seasonal cycles, community shelters.
Emergence takes shape - disaster aid sites, product launches, neighborhood commons.
“The process helped us shift from assumptions to understanding the deeper motivations behind each patient’s choices. That change has reshaped our purpose as a practice, rebuilt trust in the care journey—and drove a 30% increase in new patient inquiries from referrals within six months.” — Chief Surgeon
A California plastic surgeon asked OCULAR to help his team develop a deeper understanding of patient motivations. Through field exercises that built new contextual awareness, the team shifted their focus building a client culture, based in trust and long-term wellbeing.
Studio participants . . .
Leave the office. Go where problem lives. Observe. Engage
Break the premise. Question their first impressions. Look past symptoms. Change language.
Map the system. Locate forms, frames, and flows. Looking deeper and wider.
Find the opening. Convert hidden forces and into possibilities.
Experiment and test. Discover where the system invites change.
OCULAR is led by Daniel Hewett, a teacher, architect, and strategist, he has held leadership and teaching roles at MIT, RISD, and Northeastern, and led partnerships with a range of organizations , including LEGO, Cessna, NPR, Samsung, Nike, Boston Scientific, Goldman Sachs, and the Joint Special Operations University. He co-founded the Center for Complexity at RISD and established Urbanframe at MIT. His ongoing Fairwitness Project documents the place-based wisdom that enables people and systems to adapt under pressure.
“They make problems feel like objects you can rotate, view from new angles, and discover the orientation that turns them into their own solution.” – Strategy Consultant, Professional Services
“What was stuck became interesting once we saw how it worked.
We left inspired.” – Healthcare Administrator
"No one matched their ability to see the good ideas hiding in the ordinary places my team had stopped noticing.” - Founder, AI Lab
“A simple one-day outing became a portal, revealing how invisible dynamics like cultural identity were driving outcomes.” – Customer Experience Designer
"It helped me see how my old methods were crutches. The change made my work—and my teaching—more open, curious, and alive.” – Artist-Educator, Interdisciplinary Arts