At New Constellations we know we are not alone in thinking we need to reimagine the way in which organisations are built and run in order to meet the huge challenges of our times. Following a call we put out on Twitter and LinkedIn, Lily has been enjoying conversations over the summer with people across the globe doing amazing things and innovating in this field to uncover alternative practices in the space of organisational development.

 

What has come through strongly is how keen people are to share what's working (and isn't) within their organisation and to learn from others. So over the next few months we will be exploring how to illuminate some of the practices, models, systems and processes that have been unearthed through these conversations so far, and how we can connect this group of people in a meaningful way. Lily is still really keen to speak to anyone who may be interested in being part of this, so please do get in touch with her if that’s you: lily@newconstellations.co

In challenging economic times we’ve been thinking about what economies that serve the future might look and feel like, and are looking forward to supporting Partners for a New Economy to bring together people from this emerging field (we recommend their monthly roundups which illuminate new work and ideas in this space). We’ve mentioned Kate Raworth’s hugely influential Doughnut Economics before, but the many stories of how the Doughnut is being put into practice are always a glimmer of hope, including this new case study from two Canadian cities. We also enjoyed this recent conversation on Degrowth vs Green Growth between Kate, Less is More author Jason Hickel and Professor Sam Fankhauser.

 

Like many of you we were impressed and intrigued to see Patagonia’s announcement that “As of now, Earth is our only shareholder… ALL profits, in perpetuity, will go to our mission to ‘save our home planet’” – here’s hoping others follow suit – and we also enjoyed the inspiring story of How Mondragon Became the World’s Largest Co-Op.

 

 

We’ve spoken often of the challenge of living in times of great uncertainty, and becoming more comfortable with this is a focus of part of our journeys. Gemma will soon be chairing a session on decision-making in uncertainty at the Royal Society in collaboration with Professor David Tuckett, with whom we worked in Sheffield and whose research on the role of narrative has informed our thinking. You can sign up to the event here.

 

 

 

Some highlights of our summer reading and listening included Sacred Nature, As She Rises, What We Owe The Future, Fear of Missing Out, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (the audiobook, for O’Donohue’s wonderful voice), How High We Go in the Dark, The Book of Form & Emptiness and Iain McGilchrist on This Jungian Life.

And finally some lovely star stuff: we recently discovered Ophelie Trichereau’s cosmic embroidery (see header image), loved this image of spiralling young stars from the Hubble telescope, and enjoyed diving into this gorgeous thread on astronomical art through Islamic history.