Two Inconvenient Women – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In the final of this 'triplet' of podcasts, Holly and Rachel are this week talking about the inconvenience of systems thinking.

From the very get-go at ThoughtBox, we've had systems thinking as one of the three pillars of our work to encourage a deeply relational experience of the world (Thinking, Feeling, Connecting) by connecting with others, connecting with the wider world, and feeling deeply connected with ourselves.

Thinking in systems has started being given a lot of attention - you can take multiple courses in systems-thinking, whilst systems-change is all the range. But what is a system? What does it mean to transform systems? And what is systems thinking anyway?

This week we unpick the inconvenience of systems thinking by going right back to the roots and appreciating how this is not a 'thing to learn about' but simply how life works. We are all of us part of infinite, interconnected systems and 'thinking in systems' simply means knowing and noticing the connections that we are a part of and influenced by. This is as simple and as profound as it gets.

In this episode we reference the following:

• Donella Meadows - Thinking in systems (website / book)
• The Blind men and the elephant parable (video)
• Transforming Leadership Course (website page)
• Nostrils & systems - Chapter 1: The Story of Triple WellBeing - Rachel Musson (free ebook)
• Donut Economics - Kate Raworth (website, book, framework)
• How Wolves Change Rivers (video)
• Manfred Max-Neef - Human Needs Matrix (video)
• Gross National Happiness (alternative to GDP) - (website / approach)
• Peter Senge - introduction to systems thinking (video)
• 'From Domination to Restoration' - Jon Conradi (article)
• adrienne maree brown and Toshi Reagon (Octavia's Parables podcast)

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In the second of this 'triplet' of podcasts, Holly and Rachel are this week talking about the inconvenience of empathy.

Empathy is a muscle, something that we can strengthen the more we practice. Yet the spaces and places where empathy is developed, practised and actively encouraged in our dominant societies are dwindling, whilst at the same time it is a skill being championed as foundational for our changing world.

From the very get-go at ThoughtBox, we've had empathy as one of the three pillars of our work to encourage a deeply felt experience of the world (Thinking, Feeling, Connecting) by feeling with others, feeling with the wider world, and feeling deeply within ourselves. All of our programmes to support the practice, and yet this is another skill that is subtly being removed from our education systems, whilst our dominant media and globalised culture is actively encouraging it out of us.

This week we discuss questions such as: ‘What is the difference between empathy, sympathy and compassion? Where and how can we practise empathy? 'Do we all practise empathy in the same way? How can we be empathic with some of the people currently 'leading' our world?'

In this episode we reference the following:

• Brené Brown on Empathy (RSA animation)
• Empathy as a core skill (article)
• Empathy Studios (website /organisation)
• The Future of Jobs Report (World Economic Forum)
• The Heart of Trauma - Bonnie Badenoch (Book)
• Wild Goose Coaching (organisation)
• The Guesthouse - Rumi (poem)
• Diary of a teacher: Week 49 Entropy and Empathy - Melody Bird (blog)

Plus we reference research from some of the recent leading reports into a future-fit education:

• Future of Education (UNESCO)
• Times Education Commission (UK)
• Human Flourishing Report (PISA)
• Rebooting Education Report 2023 (UK)
• The Future of Education & Skills (OEDC)
• School Report – Pearson (UK)

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We recorded this podcast on the morning of the US Presidential election results, with Donald Trump re-elected into office for another 4 years. Recognising the enormity of this moment in time, and the wide-rippling influences that US politics and policies have on so much of the world, this conversation felt important to have live and in-the-moment as the results were unfolding.

Disclaimer: This is not a political analysis podcast as we are not deconstructing the resonance of the politics or the voting decisions being made. Instead, we wrangle with the complexities of this moment in human history. We explore the inconvenience of nuance in a world fixated on binaries; we discuss the role and resonance of leadership; we reflect on the influences on our cultural narratives and the capacity to keep holding onto active hope in the face of such adversities.

In this episode we reference the following:

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling (book)
• The Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien (book)
• The Master and His Emissary - Dr Iain McGilchrist (book)
• The Divided Brain - Dr Iain McGilchrist (TedTalk)
• The Peace of Wild Things - Wendell Berry (poem)
• Yawanawá community elder's headdress - the harpy bird (image)

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This week in the UK it’s the school half term holiday and the ThoughtBox team are slowing down too, taking time for some reading, research and essential time in nature. We aren't recording a podcast this week, so we wanted to take this opportunity to share a gift with you instead. 

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to check out our other podcast series yet, here is the first episode of Stories of Triple WellBeing® where I’m joined by two other wonderfully inconvenient women - Tina Farr and Clare Whyles of St Ebbe’s School in Oxford, UK sharing how they're positively disrupting their school culture to put Triple WellBeing at the heart of learning.

Rachel and I will return again next week for another episode...

You can listen to the rest of the Stories of Triple WellBeing® podcast on:

✳️ Spotify

✳️ Acast

✳️ Apple Podcasts

And most other podcasting platforms.

In the episode, we refer to:

• St Ebbe's Primary School
• Ken Robinson - Do Schools Kill Creativity?
• ThoughtBox - Transforming Education Leadership Summit
• Debra Kidd - Pedagogue in Residence
• Matthew Syed - Rebel Ideas
• Otto Scharmer - The Essentials of Theory U
• Brené Brown: Listening to shame
• ThoughtBox - Triple WellBeing® Fellowship
• Forest School
• The Harmony Project
• OPAL - Outdoor Play and Learning

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In this week's episode we explore the role of stories in shaping the lives we are living. Each of us is born into a story. It forms our perspective on the world, shaped by the culture we're part of, the education we receive and the values and mindsets that we are taught. These stories help us to make sense of the world around us and our place within it and shape the world in which we live. In this episode, we explore the ever-growing appreciation that the dominant story of human progress is actually limiting our capacity to thrive and pushing us into a world of personal, social and ecological crisis. So what happens when we change the story? What other stories are out there, creating healthier futures for people and planet? How can we feed ourselves different stories? What happens when we live our lives by these stories instead?

In this episode we reference the following:

• Three Stories of our Times - Joanna Macy (Website)
• Two Loops Theory - Berkana Institute (Framework)
• Do we live in a selfish world - Global Action Plan (Video)
• Common Cause Foundation (organisation)
• The Danger of a Single Story - Chimamanda Adiche (Ted Talk)
• Utopia for Realists (and how we can get there) - Rutger Bregman (book)
• The Story of Triple WellBeing - Rachel Musson (free ebook)
• Stories of Triple WellBeing (ThoughtBox podcast)
• Vinted & Depop (Second hand clothes apps)
• The Lord of the Rings - J R Tolkein (book)
• 2040 - The Regenerators (documentary)
• Naughty from Matilda the Musical (song by Tim Minchin)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's inconvenient conversation we start to unravel some of the challenges, complexities and issues of the education system and why it needs to transform. Diving into the painful truth behind the impact of the education system on our world, and exploring the responses that we're seeing from teachers, pupils and wider societies, join Rachel and Holly as we hold this space with deep care and support for us all in this complex time and these spaces of change, and with celebration for all those out there working to create healthier ways of living and learning together.

This won't be the last time we take a dive into the realities and complexities of our education system, so see this as a part one of a series of conversations.

During this episode we reference the following:

• Schooling the World (1 hour documentary)
• Changing Education Paradigms - Ken Robinson (TED Talk)
• The Transforming Education Summit (a ThoughtBox programme)
• Global Action Plan - A three-thirds curriculum (article)
• The Story of Triple WellBeing (free ebook of research into the education system)
• Citizens - Jon Alexander (book)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s conversation explores the idea of ‘unlearning’ and what it means to widen our perspectives, change our minds, shift our behaviours and ‘update’ our knowledge about the world. Unlearning can be something of a provocative term for some people, and yet holds the invitation for us to shift some of the habits, behaviours and mindsets that are contributing to so many of the crises we face in order to enable a healthier future for people and planet.

In this conversation we explore some of the different resonances of unlearning in our cultural contexts, think about what and why we need to unlearn, and talk about what it looks like as a process for healthy growth.

During this episode we reference the following:

• The Blind Men and the Elephant
• The Death of the Author - Roland Barthes
• The Amritsar massacre
• The Danger of a Single Story - Chimamanda Adiche
• Controversy around teaching Of Mice & Men
• Doughnut Economics - Kate Raworth
• Thinking in circles not straight lines - Blogpost (Rachel Musson)
• Can changing our perspective change everything - Blogpost (Rachel Musson)
• Neuroplasticity in action (2 minute video)
• The Work That Reconnects - Joanna Macy
• From domination to restoration - Article (Jon Conradi)

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When we allow ourselves to fall in love with the world, everything changes. But sometimes we need someone to help us to fall in love in the first place...

This special episode is a dedication to the life, work, wisdom and utter brilliance of Dr Stephan Harding, a globally renowned ecologist, teacher, elder and truly beautiful soul who recently passed away. His work has had a profound influence on both of us and a significant influence on the work we do at ThoughtBox. We therefore wanted to give this episode to Stephan in order to share our appreciation and to reflect a little on some of the magic he weaved during his lifetime; in particular the infectious way he inspired hundreds of thousands of people to fall in love with the world.

Dr Stephan Harding | 8th July 1953 - 2nd September 2024

In this episode we reference the following:

• Wild Podcast - Why settling Mars is a really dumb idea - Kelly Weinersmith
• Why You Want a Physicist to Speak at Your Funeral, Aaron Freeman
• Cosmic Eye video
• The Deep Time Walk App
• Outrage & Optimism Podcast with Dr Stephan Harding
• How flowers talk to bees (David Attenborough)
• Wild Geese - Mary Oliver poem

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This week's conversation opens the box on the multiple crises we're facing in this moment in time. It's big, scary and overwhelming to face up to just some of the things happening around us - and yet not looking and not talking about them is also part of the problem.

In this conversation we speak about some of the elephants in the room - from the climate and nature crisis to the genocide in Palestine to the growing global refugee crisis - and the different responses happening around the world. In particular we explore why it is we're not talking about these complex problems and dig into understanding the way our nervous systems are responding. We explore the importance of resourcing and resilience, of partnering our nervous systems and how to find the courage to face the mess we're in and do something about it.

DISCLAIMER: This conversation is big, complex and honest. We share it with care for however we're each feeling in the world right now - and with deep consideration of and energy for the capacity that exists to change the stories we're a part of.

In this episode we reference the following:

• The Polyvagal Theory
• How to imagine a better future, TED Talk, adrienne maree brown & Barantunde Thurston
• Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Dr Bonny Badenoch - The Heart of Trauma
• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission
• Wise Goose Coaching

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This week's conversation is all about the power of rest to positively disrupt the status quo. Together, Rachel and Holly explore some of the following thoughts:

What is rest? Who benefits when we rest? What happens when we stop ‘doing’? How can we be human beings, not just human doings?

How is rest an act of resistance against the legacy of colonialism and a capitalist culture? Is rest a privilege?

Join us as we wrangle with these and many other ideas over a cup of tea and conversation. 

During the podcast, we refer to the following:

• PACTS (a new education initiative empowering UK students to engage in democracy)
• The Rebelliousness of Rest by Rachel Musson (blog article)
• Rest is Resistance: Free yourself from grind culture and reclaim your life by Tricia Hersey (book)
• Bayo Akomolafe (writer and speaker)
• Frederick by Leo Lionni (children's book)
• The Language of Emotions by Karla McLaren (book)
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck : A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson (book)

If you'd like to continue the conversation with us, we run a free weekly(ish) group on Thursdays, 13.00-13.30 UK Time, where we explore key questions about co-creating a healthier world for people and planet. It's open to everyone and we'd love to see you there. Find out more at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/thoughtclub-3671229

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