Worldview
111 posts
Doing The Work Anyway
Some people might say it takes a certain kind of madness to work on a project nobody is waiting for. Who in their right mind devotes months or even years to creating something no one said they wanted? And yet, that’s what our art requires of us. We show up and do it anyway, not…
Walking As Yourself
The legendary British actress, Helen Mirren, says the hardest thing you can do is walk as yourself. She may have been speaking about acting when she said this, but I think her words carry wisdom we can use beyond the stage. Society conditions us to fit in from a young age. The way to fit…
On Sufficiency
My favourite childhood stories were those written by Laura Ingalls Wilder about her pioneer family and life in the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Her family lived on their wits. They were grateful for what they had and prepared for uncertain seasons. In tough times they made do and relied on their skills,
The Limitations Of Labels
Last week, an Australian journalist was quoted in the media as saying that millennial workers lack resilience. She expressed concern over their need for thanks and hugs. On the same day, our millennial plumber was due to arrive to investigate a leak. Even though we’re isolating during the pandemic,
Expect The Good
There is no way of knowing if the organic vegetables I bought today were grown without pesticides. But I trust that they were. When I order gluten-free bread for a friend, I trust my baker has used the right flour. I believe the chocolate inside the bar labelled ‘fair trade’ is ethically produced. E
The Will And The Way
My grandmother was fond of repeating the proverb: ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way.’ She’d say it to encourage us to try. I don’t think I’ve fully appreciated its power until now. Seeing how our communities and local businesses have adapted to the pandemic restrictions is proof of how innovative
On Influence
Many of us go through life feeling powerless to change things. After all, not everyone has leadership status or power conferred upon them. We sometimes believe that influence is a top-down construct—that we can have the most influence from a position of authority. Let’s challenge that assumption. Th
The Right Thing
Long before digital platforms, social media and online reviews we’ve had the incentive to do the right thing. The need for the protection of our tribe and a sense of belonging to our community meant we adhered to rules and norms for the benefit of the collective good. We needed to do right by others
The Future We Want To See
Sometimes we fail to act because we’re afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. So we say and do nothing and wait for the discomfort of the moment to pass. It’s easier to turn a blind eye than it is to simply say: ‘This is not okay.’ But the future we’re building together depends…
Stories For Good
Stories are our most persuasive technology. The stories we tell can be powerful catalysts for change. But the stories that silence us are the most potent of all. The stories we choose to believe and believe in are the making of us. We can use our voices to raise the voices of those whose stories…
Start To Finish
Conventional wisdom states that you can never have too much information when solving a problem or executing on a plan. But we all know that information and data alone won’t get us to where we want to go. All problem-solving and innovation require us also to imagine a future we can’t yet see. And per
On Ambition
Before I went to high school, everyone in our year sat an aptitude test. We were eleven years old, and the assessment took place over three hours one morning early in summer. The goal was to identify each student’s potential and stream girls into year groups based on their IQ. The theory being that
The Human Advantage
Consider the things we value in our interactions with others—kindness, honesty, patience and empathy, for starters. Now, think about how often you experience them. How many opportunities will you have today to amplify these qualities in your everyday interactions? How many will you take advantage of
On Failure
I don’t know, are three of the hardest words for fallible human beings to say. We avoid them at all costs and at every turn. Because in our eyes, giving the wrong answer is worse than having none at all. But mistakes are not failings, they are data we can learn from. Every failure inches…
The Unremarkable
Lately, we have come to recognise the remarkable contribution of the people many considered unremarkable. The people who stack our food on the supermarket shelves through the night. The truck drivers who get behind the wheel every day ensuring deliveries reach us. Those who wake early to clean our h
On Helping
We like to be helpful. We’re physiologically wired for it. The *science shows that helping others helps us to help ourselves. Helping makes us happy. So when people ask for advice or an opinion, we gladly offer it. But before we can help, there’s a question we need to answer. How exactly am I helpin
The Act Of Possibility
We associate the word possibility with abundance. Naturally, we think about anything being possible when we’re in a good place. Of course, right now many things are not possible. But something is. We may not always be able to choose what happens but we can choose how we respond. What’s the smallest
In Answer To Your Question
We like to ask for advice. It’s human to investigate all the angles—to seek the opinions of others. And yet in doing so, we can forget to reflect on our insights and assumptions. We often forget to check in with our beliefs before considering what someone else thinks. What if before sought advice, w
Lessons From A Low-Touch World
Technology presents opportunities for efficiency and scale. And for the last century, conventional wisdom equated progress with efficiency—doing more with less friction. We’ve worked hard to build systems that scale. Frictionless innovations for a low-touch world. Now, we’re beginning to realise tha
Take What You Need
Not far from my house, outside an apartment building, next to the vegetable boxes, where residents are normally busy tending their gardens, there is a little library. You know, one of those where you can leave a book and take a book. Now, someone has built a little pantry next to it. It’s stocked wi
