Balance is a corrupt term in an unbalanced world “Balance is a corrupt term in an unbalanced world.”Jacqueline Rose When the pendulum of justice is hard to one side, coming into balance is not justice. For to do this negates the exploitation and suffering of those who faced and lived through the injustice of the extreme of the pendulum. Allow one class to become extremely wealthy by extreme exploitation, extraction to extinction and colonisation, and we do not find justice in the centre....
1 day ago • 1 min read
How can we change without changing? This is really the truth of most change initiatives. Let’s appear to change. Or tinker with change so we can feel good. Climate Action is almost entirely professing change without changing, for if there was an integrous commitment to change, then people would confront that it will only come with whole systems change. The very operating system of Western hegemony needs to be dismantled. So we gather at places like COP and various Climate Action weeks, and we...
2 days ago • 1 min read
Balloons in the Hunter Valley Another lesson in enough Yesterday I was in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, one of the many great wine-producing regions of Australia. I was there to speak on leadership to a group of about thirty top-performing agents. After so many years I am still learning that sometimes – or even often – less is more. My desire to give value leads. I have so much to give. I try to give it all in one tidal wave. Which of course is like asking people to drink water from a...
3 days ago • 1 min read
Hollow bones and an empty heart Everything is easier when your employees and team are your biggest fans. If we go back to the root of the root and the source of the source of almost all the biggest issues humanity and life face it begins with that first thought of superiority over other people and life. This little thought creates separation. With separation comes a host of other casualties: isolation, domination, cruelty, erasure, and exploitation. When we work with people – and we all work...
4 days ago • 1 min read
What is in it for me What is in it for me, says the ‘impact’ investor. For a start, a world with a future. Is that enough for you? Or is there something else you desire? Perhaps a few more decades of experiencing glaciers. Or clean rivers? Or is there something else you desire? How about a halt to the extinction of our beautiful creatures. Is that enough for you? Or is there something else you desire? How about we stop poisoning the world with microplastics and you can begin to think your...
5 days ago • 1 min read
Encounters This morning the Ocean temperature felt summery. Blessed am I to have crystal clear water. A dolphin jumped the wave a meter from my face. And then, later, I was surrounded by a pod of dolphins. Under me. Around me. Feasting off the garfish that brushed my feet. We have not seen the dolphins for a while. But as the whales are now further South, the dolphins have come back. Many cormorants dived. One, clearly intent on his feast, chased a garfish that wriggled right across my...
6 days ago • 1 min read
Telling the truth sets you apart Against an endless sea of lies. People telling lies knowing they are telling lies and people listening knowing they are lies, but no matter, the liar is more important than the lie. And then the lie becomes a virus and spreads, capturing our drama hook and desire for righteous indignation, paving the way for sanctioned atrocities and egregious acts. From the inane – I have heel spurs – to the dangerous and cruel – We commit to environmental responsibility....
8 days ago • 1 min read
A True Coalition A true coalition is one that brings together and unites. It is not a quid pro quo, where we trade back-scratching. You violate your principles over there and I will violate my principles over here. A healthy coalition is based on Principles that transcend negotiation. It asks participants to commit to a set of mutually agreed upon Principles, and then stay in the conversation and debate until the seemingly impossible solution is uncovered that doesn’t violate the Principles....
9 days ago • 1 min read
Hypocrisy From hypo- “under” (see hypo-) + middle voice of krinein “to sift, decide” c. 1200, ipocrisie, “the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness,” From Etymology Online Pretending good or virtue. The practice of claiming to have higher standards when that is not true. Sometimes we speak hypocritically and it is a genuine blind spot. A failure of perspective. Sometimes, we deliberatively fail to seek another perspective. This type of hypocrisy is steeped in the love of righteousness. I am...
10 days ago • 1 min read