Webinar: The Systemic Transformation (The Regenerative Business Transformation pt 2)
Part two of our free webinar series on the Regenerative Business Transformation. This time we talk about the systemic aspects of it. Enjoy!
What is the systemic? Well in our world it’s those collective habits that have been institutionalised. For example roads: if there is a road it’s going to be hard to imagine that we would not use it. Once it’s built it is going to be very hard to unbuild it or change it since a lot of other things, dependent on it have been built around it. Once the road is built it will probably define where it’s possible to drive in that area. That’s true with other, less tangible structures too: like companies, ways of funding, regulation, thought patterns…
These things are not abstract they are subtle. The key takeaway is this: we need to attend to the world differently to be able to act systemically. That is what we spoke about in the webinar. You can see the webinar in its entirety below as well as find the presentation.
Here’s what we touched:
The meta crisis: The idea that we live in a world of interconnected, simultaneous crisis where everything has to do with everything else. We need to let go of our hope of simple solutions. Curious for more depth? Here is a 30 min video by Jonathan Rowson (director of Perspectiva) that gives a nice overview.
An important part of beginning to address something like a meta crisis is looking deeply at its causes. As we dig through historical, political, economical, sociological, cultural layers we will begin to understand that the causes are related to how we see the world. Carol Sanford puts it like this: Our consciousness (what we can see and perceive in the world) will determine to a large degree what skills or capacities we build in the world. Those capacities will in turn define what we (can) do. Ultimately our actions collectively make up our culture. The culture in turn defines what we can see and round and round it goes.
To return to the roads as mentioned in the intro: we could think about these as trampled forrest paths that gradually become widened and eventually turned into roads. Eventually roads that define entire landscapes. Even though the roads make the landscape sick it is very hard to change the roads. Unless you start building a capacity to move differently and that requires seeing and being differently.
The main thesis of this webinar is that our systems are designed to handle a rational, certain and mechanical world. It is just that the world is not like that at all. Like Gregory Bateson says: The main problems in the world are the result of the difference between how the world works and how people think. The ‘solutions’ we are working on and proposing is exactly what has lead us to where we are right now.
What we are proposing is that the world is rather embodied, uncertain and relational. We review some theory that underpins this in the webinar. When we begin exploring the world as such, it begins to look different.
We touched upon 3 bridges: topics that we can talk about in both of these world views: Value, Risk and Efficiency. These are terms that allow us to meet people where they are. They hold the potential to practice the new world view, the systemic and relational world view. One aligned with using life (instead of a machine) as a model for how we move in the world.
We touched upon 2 tools that one can use to begin uncovering the systemic world. One is the consciousness - capacity - culture framework described above. The other is also by Carol Sanford and proposes that we engage with the world with 4 ‘minds’.
Thing mind: The objects that we are creating
Process mind: The process that then go ahead and create the tings we see.
Relational mind: The relationships that we then weave into the processes that then make the things
Essence mind: The essence or core that allows you to find the others (create the relationships) and then engage in processes that then result in things.
As you can see - these minds are interdependent and depending on where we focus our attention will give very different approaches or solutions. We’ll talk more about the potential that lies in spending more time in the essence and relational mind than in process and thing mind (where we usually spend our time) in the next webinar… Tag along on the 28th!
The invitation and the final question was “What could you relax that would increase your agency?” Because our experience of shifting is that it might not be about adding more. Rather taking away. Relaxing demands on rationality so that we can sense our body. Relax demands on knowing so that we can fully be with and get curious about the uncertain. Relax our incessant looking at parts to begin feeling into the whole relational world we’re living in. Relaxing gets us closer. There is nothing you have to do right right now other than taking the next step and notice what that changes. Before you know it everything might be different.
This was a very short summary of what we talked about. If you found it hard to grasp - well it’s because it is! Take a look at the webinar if you want more resolution. Or get in touch if you want to talk more in-depth.
Full slide deck for the curious.
