Cultural Tectonic Shifts in Life and Work

Our relationship with cities, companies and even ourselves is undergoing radical transformation.

In this post I’ll briefly reflect on recent events, give a quick update on my focus this month and intro some similar and interesting channels/people/companies I believe are making waves in organisational design, system change and the future of work.

As Europe enters it's 2nd lockdown and winter arrives I'm sure many are questioning their living situations. I'm doing it myself and asking as many are if cities hold the same value they once did?

As much as it's a terrible time for many people and businesses right now there are always opportunities within these shifting priorities to offer real alternatives to the previous status quo. 
Currently, I'm looking into the needs of those looking to study remotely. I'm exploring the curation of co-living houses where online study is structured with peer group activities.

Please do connect me if you know anyone who had their placement cancelled, is looking for university alternatives or simply wants to invest in themselves next year. 
I will be releasing more information on this in January 2021.

My bold head captured at a coliving project I attended back in March 2019. ☝🏻

Sovereign society

This month I really stepped into a certain frame for what ONCE can provide to its community.
I first heard the term sovereignty in the digital sense through self-sovereign identity (SSI). A blockchain-enabled innovation that underpins many other hugely important innovations on their way (more on that later). 

But I've been hearing the term often from the incredible thinkers collected by Rebel Wisdom. Presenting it as an embodied mental state and approach to social interaction.
I found this channel after watching a talk by Alexander Beiner at the Human / Nature / Stories event in February set up by my then hubmate Hannah Close. 
Finding it has easily been one of the highlights of my year and feels like a whole other half of this puzzle has been filled from their speakers.

To me, the term sovereignty gives a sense of temporary separation or stepping back to then define a clear relationship. Until we can clear our minds, time and relationships from the endless cycle and hijack of modern life we may never be able to really think ahead or be truly conscious in our choices.

I believe to give real freedom to the members and contributors of ONCE, sovereignty is a topic worth exploring and one I will be taking a journey of discovery into through film.
Do subscribe to my Youtube Channel if you’re interested to see this topic I’ll be adding a lot more content in the coming months.

The Collaborative Context

For those of you curious to know more about the ONCE concept it might be useful to introduce some similar organisations for context. There's many I could list but here's a small selection of pioneers I've found.

Future Strategy Club
FSC is the one closest to home and which I'm proud to have worked with and be a part of.
They're a similar freelance/consultant network that focuses on the learning and development of the community while offering strategic services to clients. They're not for profit and have a real honest and authentic edge. I'd recommend watching a talk by Justin at the TBD conference. It's a speech I strongly resonate with about the developmental path of founders. 

The Guild of Future Architects
This I found very recently through a podcast by Jim Rutt, a key player in the Game B movement.
Checking out their website I don't think I've ever found something that aligns so well to my own intentions. Not only do many of the descriptions and visuals match the direction of ONCE but the focus on media and imagination in relation to system change is especially striking. 

Enspiral
This was the first organisation that seemed closest in structure to what ONCE is aiming for. It gives me comfort knowing they also find it a challenge to describe who and what they are. 
Enspiral is certainly a pioneer in this type of organisation and I've found their resources and results to be a great reference and inspiration.

2 people to watch as members of Enspiral:
Phoebe Tickell who's been exploring narrative change with Moral Imaginations.
Richard Bartlett and his work exploring working group dynamics with Micro-Solidarity.

On a similar note, I'm currently reading the book Reinventing Organisations, and the info/validation in these pages is intense. Would highly recommend this book for anyone curious on the future of work or organisational design, especially if you've got an awareness of integral theory. Book review coming on Youtube 😉

Please drop me a message if you're interested in the ONCE Community or via the signup. To find out more about ONCE from the previous edition.