'Week' Notes - 16 June - 13 July 2024 - Time is a Flat Circle

A big shout out to Rima Patel for prodding me back into writing a 'week' note as it’s been some time. Apparently she has read and enjoyed my previous ones so that was a boost to get this done.

So, what have I been up to?

Beyond the Basics…

At B Lab UK, we’re gearing up to launch our next online training course on the process and journey to become a B Corp. It’s been a labour of love, involving multiple team members, cross-border collaboration with the lovely B Lab Europe and B Lab Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and stories from our B Corp and consultancy communities. 

Designing and developing products is hard and we’ve truly been in the messy squiggles around creating, piloting, pricing and marketing with the odd existential crisis thrown into the mix.

Keep an eye out for the release very, very soon!

The Walk

A big shout out to Louis Heatlie for being the first participant in The Walk, where a couple of us go for an extended walk and talk around a park and shoot the breeze. This is an in-person version of the random virtual chats I’ve been running over the past year where anyone can put some time in with me to talk about anything. 

Now clearly going for a walk and talk is the.most.basic of human endeavours, but something about this felt oddly radical and special. What was supposed to be a 90-minute chat, turned into 2.5 hours of exploration around Greenwich Park talking about design, complexity, careers, data measurement, organisational structures and appreciating the creation of space to breathe. Really, thank you Louis for that time and space.

The next one is booked in for August with Julian Tait , who’s one of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet.

Democracy 

I finally made it over to Kairos, a new space in Central London that focuses on “radical social change in response to the climate and nature crises”. I was there on Thursday to see Roman Krznaric talk about his new book History for Tomorrow, a look back in time to points of crisis for inspiration and ideas about how we might respond to today’s polycrisis. 

I’ve tended to shy away from these spaces in the past because I have never felt like I fit in - I often struggle to articulate the myriad thoughts swirling in me, even remembering all the stuff I read, and the old ego about not trying to sound stupid. But I am constantly reminding myself that this is exercise, practice and a craft. It’s through the stretch and failure that growth, development and strength comes. So getting out and meeting new people, being in community, sharing insights and really listening, is where I want to be.

I was back there today for 'Everyday Democracy'. It was a full day session run by with Dr Sophie Scott-Brown and Pippa Evans exploring the role of improv in democracy. Now this is not entirely new to me given the legislative theatre work of Katy Rubin, but to see it presented here, in a different context, was illuminating and further evidence that there is value in holding these spaces for deep discussion. 

As a facilitator, I have some new tricks to play with in groups, and some connections and inspiration from a lovely bunch of humans. 

The next challenge is the spread. How do I begin to create other spaces for these conversations in new areas?… I guess the first one is the improv PechaKucha event I’m running on 29 August 2024 in Manchester - more news soon!

A final point on democracy - Audrey Tang is coming to London! I will be hanging out at The Conduit on Tuesday morning (sign up here) and Newspeak House on Wednesday morning (link here). Expect 🤯.

Listening/Watching

• Indy Johar on the Curiosity That Matters podcast - I finally get to dive into the rabbit hole of some of the Dark Matter Labs work...
• The Great Simplicity with Nate Haggens and Daniel Schmachtenberger - thanks to Erinch Sahan for flagging this one. At almost 3.5 hours, this is a mega commitment but worth it so far (although the sound does gets iffy at some points, so not recommended tube listening…)

Warhammer Watch

I finished painting a model! Behold my Imperial Fists Marine…