Meet our Colleagues

Born curious and driven, Francis has followed his polymathic interests and has spent the last three decades exploring in a multi-disciplinary way how humans manage information and transfer that information from one mind to another.

His eclectic career path has been at the intersectional discovery edges of psychology, learning, cognition, and behavioral economics.

In 2002, he joined OpenBook Learning, inc. as a founding partner. He was appointed CEO in 2008, and acquired ownership control in 2016. OpenBook Learning includes an integrated English language and literacy software spun out of IBM’s Eduquest called OpenBook Academy, GTD Focus, a partnership with best-selling author David Allen to deliver his Getting Things Done individual coaching in the US and Canada and Kairos Cognition, a consulting practice for individuals who need to make decisions under voluminous information flow. Not surprisingly, his clients come from multiple disciplines including heads of global organizations, leaders in finance, medicine, the military, media, sports, education, design, and entertainment.

People working under these conditions are getting things done typically to a high degree of effectiveness. At the same time, they bump up against the 24-hour wall and need to be engaging the optimum thing at the optimum time, In short, they need to achieve kairos. Their work with Francis begins with a three-stage metacognitive process to align their time, attention, and energy. This happens through a systemic process of previewing expectations, developing a broader awareness of the dynamics in the moment, and using reflection to repeat success and redirect from suboptimal engagements. Ultimately and, often through extended coaching, individuals increase their ability to choose their self-assessed highest value activity for each moment of the day.

Kairos Cognition is driving this concept through organizations in partnerships with management consultants, HR professionals and others in talent management. The goal is to align an organization with kairos in order to build an organizational culture of unmatched fluidity of communication and cooperation.

In his spare time, his wife, Susan, says, “He interrogates the universe.”

LinkedIn

As a CPTD (Certified Professional in Talent Development), I bring credentialed expertise and workplace experience to Talent, Leadership, and Organizational Development. My leadership style reflects high trust while challenging the status quo and leading teams to question, learn, experiment, innovate, and evaluate for continuous improvement, increased effectiveness, and expanded scope.

Robert joined OpenBook Learning in 2016. He immediately developed the brand and design language for OpenBook Academy, and redesigned the experience and delivery of what is now the Kairos Survey. In 2017, he took on the addition of the GTD Coaching brand and deliverables, creating the website, design language, style sheet, and customer communication. At that time, Robert joined Francis Sopper as a partner in OpenBook Learning

Recognizing the brand promises of GTD and the cognitive approach used by OpenBook Learning, while being nonetheless complimentary appealed to different experiences, Robert led the creation of Kairos Cognition as a separate and complimentary identity and set of services to GTD.

Further, Robert made the case that the breakthrough and transformative experience of Kairos Cognition's insights should be made widely available through free access to the Kairos Survey and its individual scoring. Robert is leading the creation of affordable and scalable products to make these life-changing insights translatable and broadly accessible.

By avocation, Robert is a photographer, videographer, and illustrator.

LinkedIn

I help teams move beyond the clutter and noise of organizational chaos into an inspired flow. Working in tandem with leaders and staff, we bring the joy back into the creative process. Obstacles are removed, friction is reduced, and projects are delivered on time.

For the past 30 years, I have worked in depth with consulting and creative industries to leverage their success - from the inside out. By removing internal roadblocks within their organization, my clients have been able to better connect, communicate, collaborate and thrive in their industry.

My current clients consist of prominent filmed entertainment, broadcasting, advertising, and visual effects agencies. They have consistently experienced profound, significant, and lasting results from our sessions.

Connor develops, edits, and publishes content for a variety of digital platforms, including websites, blogs, email marketing campaigns, social media and more. His role is critical as his organization expands their presence online to ensure visibility in today's remote landscape.