An Artful Inquiry into a Deeper Ecology of Business
Five o’clock in the morning and the sky’s already an awesome array of vibrant pinks, oranges and mellow yellows. Rainbow-tinted fluffy clouds gently clearing away to reveal what becomes a gloriously hot English summer’s day. Next to me as I sit amid mammoth trees in the beautiful grounds of Ashridge Business School is a young female deer, both of us entranced by each other’s glance.
By 8.30am a gaggle of eighteen intrepid and experienced participants settle in the comfortable surrounds of the lounge for light refreshments. A diverse cohort of corporate pioneers and cultural creatives are quick to form a tribe of kindred spirits, sharing and exploring with humility and courage on our mini-quest; blending heady business content and shared experiences with soulful, somatic exercises.
‘A workshop full of insight and wisdom delivered in such a concise and accessible way’ – participant feedback
What were the objectives and intended outcomes of this workshop? Our intention was to reach beyond the symptomatic surface into the deeper metamorphosis underway in our ways of operating and organising; to hold a space for an artful inquiry into ways of being and doing that aid the transformation of our organisations from firms of the past (top-down, hierarchic, command-and-control, siloed, KPI-obsessed, monolithic monocultures) to firms of the future (living, emergent, diverse, networked, anti-fragile, locally-attuned, soulful, purposeful organisations). For this the context and content of the workshop formed around playing with the tensions of inner-outer and being-doing set within the framing of our organisations becoming future-fit.
‘Fascinating subject with a good balance of theory and bodywork’ – participant feedback
The inner dimension explored our personal transformations, the challenges, experiences and practices of opening ourselves up to deeper ways of being and doing in the workplace. The outer dimension explored the relational challenges and tensions of transforming the cultural mind-set from firm-of-the-past logic (extractive linearity, short-termism, control-based ego-dominator approaches) to more self-organising, empowering, embodied, eco-systemic spiritually-aware partnership approaches required by firms of the future. It is here that we sense how future-fit organisations cannot just be materially and functionally inspired by Nature (enter: biomimetic design, cradle-to-cradle, closed-loop economics, industrial ecology, eco-systemic thinking, and so forth) but also need to be resonant with the metaphysical rhythms and wisdom Nature affords us (enter eco-psychology, somatic awareness, eco-systemic presencing, heart entrainment, phenomenology, shamanic business, conscious leadership and the re-cognition and re-membering of our soulful sense of place and purpose in a deeply sentient world). We also explored our natural ways of knowing in need of being nurtured as we learn to become Natural Leaders in these challenging and volatile climes.
This artful inquiry revealed the need for a shift not just in ways of relating and doing but also in our underlying mythological and philosophical worldview, a shift at deep and partly unconscious levels in how we ‘prehend’ (to use Alfred North Whitehead’s term), how we intuit and perceive ourselves, each other and the more-than-human world. Examples and insights were drawn from the books The Nature of Business (which explores firms of the future as businesses inspired by Nature) and The Illusion of Separation (which explores the philosophical and metaphysical implications of this metamorphosis as we step towards a deeper ecology of business) and Future Fit (a practical workbook that explores 21st Century business transformation towards resilient, flourishing future-fit business).
‘Such a powerful, lovely and deeply wise workshop’ – participant feedback
Clearly there is only so much one can explore in a 9am-3.30pm window while seeking to balance ways of being and doing, inner and outer exploration, participant sharing and networking with concepts, frameworks and tools. If we were to run something similar again we would do things differently, not least finish at 5.30pm or even invite people to join us the evening before. And we were blessed throughout the day with outstanding weather, beautiful surrounds and a wonderful cohort consciously willing to engage open heartedly in a smorgasbord of activities.
What got this all started was a long and energising walk across Dartmoor in the spring haze and April showers with Chris Nichols of Ashridge, to whom I am indebted. During my time at Ashridge I sensed a business school that really ‘gets it’ when it comes to understanding the importance of education rooted in artful inquiry, action research and holistic ways of knowing; exploring beyond the superficial regurgitation of yesterday’s logic. And since that summer’s day I have regularly recommended and referred to the good work of Ashridge, for instance in this recently published Opinion Paper on Redefining the Nature of Business in the Millennial Age.
It was a great honour to explore and share with consciously-aware participants and to work with the talented facilitators Debbie Warrener and Daniel Ludevig as well as case study presenter Chris Randall of Heart-in-Business, not to mention Chris Nichols and Vicki Brown of Ashridge whose support behind the scenes and on the day helped it all sing.
—
Giles Hutchins is a recognised thought leader, speaker and adviser, applying twenty years of experience to his work at individual and organisational levels. He is author of the books The Nature of Business , The Illusion of Separation and Future Fit.
Natural Leadership: Embracing the Logic of Life
Leadership is central to this reshaping of our organizations. It is leadership that enables us to traverse our own thresholds while helping others traverse theirs. The origin of the word ‘leadership’ is the old European word leith which means ‘to go forth and cross the threshold’, ‘to let go of old ways and embrace the new’. In other words, leadership is about shaping our future while letting go of yesterday’s logic.
The logic of yesterday haunts many of today’s organizations. Its hallmark is a control-and-predict hurry-up-and-get-on-with-it short-termism. It’s a mechanistic reductive logic infecting how we perceive our world and our sense of self within it. Inured by this logic, we see ourselves as separate “I’s”, self-absorbed units struggling for survival in a dog-eat-dog world.
This logic projects a worldview now ingrained in our educational systems, managerial mind-sets and methods of leading, so much so that many of us believe it to be ‘just the way life is’. Why question this logic when, after all, it’s the ‘logic of life’? Or is it?
Hot off the Press: Becoming Future Fit Today
The 20th century ‘organisation-as-machine’ metaphor is giving way to the 21st century ‘organisation-as-living-systems’ metaphor.
And this shift is not just metaphoric but metamorphic, affecting all aspects of our enterprising futures: from care provision to car manufacturing, from board-room behaviour to our everyday conversations and creative undertakings. Gone with the winds of change is the out-dated logic of yesterday (with its control-based top-down risk-averse myopic bureaucracies). Enter the logic of living-systems (locally-attuned, life-supporting, empowering, networked, self-organising, for-purpose enterprises).
The implications are huge. Those that fail to embrace this shift in logic will be yesterday’s news.
Future Fit is a response to this: it is a practical workbook for those of us involved in the future of business.
This timely book is packed full of tips, techniques, insights, approaches, case studies and examples to help leaders, managers, change agents and entrepreneurs transform their organizations into firms of the future.
Here is the website for the book which has just been released www.futurefitbook.com
Also a short 3mins video here
And here are some of the endorsements coming in about this book:
‘The world we live in has become more complex, uncertain, and rapidly changing. This is the backdrop the business world must operate in and the old machine paradigm is no longer suited for this world. We see an emerging trend of moving from a mechanistic view of business to an organic, living organization framework, and Future Fit goes right to the heart of it. Packed full with practical insights to help activate and catalyze this transformation, this is a brilliant book that will help you wrap your head around the shifting paradigm at the vanguard of future business. Read it!’ Norman Wolfe, CEO of Quantum Leaders and author of The Living Organization
‘Many books call for new ways of thinking for modern leaders but until Future Fit none have provided such wise, well researched and practical approaches to guide leaders facing deeply complex challenges. In this compelling workbook Giles Hutchins is at the forefront of synthesizing new logics for business with the natural rhythms of life and the human mind that will revolutionize business. Future Fit is a must read for every leader who wants to continue being successful or to move beyond what currently feels like impossible challenges. As an experienced Chief Executive I cannot recommend this powerful work highly enough.’ Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE, Former Chief Executive of 157 Group, Centre for Excellence in Leadership UK, and ranked one of the UK’s most influential people in Debretts 2015 List.
‘Future Fit is prescient and practical. It describes the future as it can and should be, by drawing on a breadth of knowledge rarely seen in business books. It also makes big, abstract ideas more concrete, by offering examples and advice. This book will help managers navigate a complex world for a more sustainable world. Giles Hutchins is one of the most broad-reaching, forward thinking writers in business.’ Tima Bansal, Canada Research Chair in Business Sustainability, Ivey Business School
‘One of the most urgent challenges for individuals, organizations and the whole human family, is to transform human consciousness so it is fit for the world of the 21st century. Giles Hutchins has written eloquently in all his books about ways of bringing together individual and organizational transformation. In this his latest book, Giles has provided us with a treasure-trove of approaches, methods, models and living examples of ways of creating the regenerative organization of the future, drawn from leading writers, practitioners and pioneer companies from all parts of the globe.’ Peter Hawkins, Professor of Leadership, Henley Business School and author of Leadership Team Coaching and many other books
‘Future Fit is like an Encyclopaedia of anecdotes, practical exercises, reflective questions and real life examples set in a very uplifting context to prepare us for the time to come. It transitions seamlessly from a personal transformation guide to rich resource for an organisational development journey. It is a must read for all change agents, entrepreneurs, and organisational leaders. This book appeals and adds value to all aspects of my life; it will now be my first point of reference for all my personal and professional interventions.’ Darshita Gillies, Coach, Consultant, Entrepreneur & Co-Founder of Blu Dot
‘Future Fit is a practical guidebook for being in business in the 21st century which takes the reader on a journey combining the pragmatic and the inspiring. A masterpiece of synthesis weaving together the emergent strands of wisdom from others with the author’s own extraordinary insights. This is a must-read for any business seeking answers to a deep inner sense that something different is needed for them and their organisation to stay relevant in the 21st century.’ Mark Drewell, Senior Partner, The ForeSight Group, co-founder and former CEO of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative
‘Future-Fit builds on Hutchins’ previous books and stellar experience as a consultant. Here are critical inquiries, practical steps, and transforming actions to take, that offer lifesaving radical surgery for humanity and the business world. With breath-taking flair, Hutchins insists on convergence between soul-truth and organisation purpose, and between effective leadership and inner stillness. He dismantles illusions and articulates a bold and sophisticated vision of organisational sanity and new understanding. Implicit in his argument is that changes which are faltering, cosmetic, minor, sluggish, or embarked on less than whole-heartedly are woefully insufficient: given the world’s plight, both in its human and non-human dimensions, we need an intense seriousness of purpose and a revolutionary scale of re-thinking and action – all of which demands new levels of human maturity. He shows many ways of getting there.’ Dr Malcolm Parlett, author of Future Sense, Five Explorations of Whole Intelligence for a World That’s Waking Up.
‘Future-Fit provides the reader with practical modules replete with working examples full of snippets of wisdom. It is that rare book that mixes hands-on practicality with a philosophy of the heart. Giles Hutchins has written a transformational tool for business people and thinkers alike to enable them to adapt from old practices and thinking patterns into new perspectives. Hutchins shows us how to navigate unchartered waters through awareness, personal gnosis, and authenticity. And when Hutchins says – ‘Let’s get practical’ – he lives up to his promise. He reveals how to deal with volatile times ahead by responding with natural creativity, innovation, collaboration, reciprocity, conviviality and empathy. If I was to choose one guide to cross the Rubicon with into the future business world – it would be Giles Hutchins!’ Kingsley L. Dennis PhD, author of The Phoenix Generation: A New Era of Connection, Compassion and Consciousness
Visit the website for the book www.futurefitbook.com for more information. See the 3min video about the book here
The book can be purchased on all Amazon outlets, for instance:
Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Future-Fit-Giles-Hutchins/dp/1530153433
Amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/Future-Fit-Giles-Hutchins/dp/1530153433
What’s next for our human family?
I was recently asked this question while being interviewed in London for a short film. Here is my response:
Amid these times of great upheaval and challenge we are midwifing the birthing of our authentic selves, simultaneously midwifing the metamorphosis of our humanity, within our organizations, communities and wider society. And this birthing inevitably comes with surrendering, pain and an opening up to deeper vistas of what it means to be human.
This surrendering is not a passive act, but a full-bodied, participatory dynamic opening us up to a more intimate experience of Life. It is a letting go of the egoic operating system so ingrained and acculturated in us, which is holding us back, enslaving us with a logic of control, fear, separation and domination. As we learn to let go, we can open up to more of our innate humanity: our courage, creativity and compassion. Courage comes from the Latin cor meaning heart: a letting go of our egotism and an opening up to our heart requires great courage.
We are crossing thresholds that challenge us at deep and partly unconscious levels, and this requires courage.
Each of us has a human responsibility to help ourselves and each other through this painful yet liberating birthing process.
The logic of old with its fear-based, control-based, separating, polarizing perspective can grip us ever-tighter in these times of great upheaval unless we are diligent and dedicated in our attention and intention. This explains the rising interest in the likes of Donald Trump who pander to our fearful nature. These challenging times also provide the crucible for a deeper, truer ‘Logic of Life’ to emerge within and through us. This explains the rising interest in a myriad of collaborative-based, purposeful, values-led, life-enhancing initiatives across the globe.
And so what I see next for our human family is a collective, organizational and personal letting go of hubris and fear while simultaneously opening up to the real ‘Logic of Life’ (the living-systems logic of regenerative, emergent, participatory ways of being & doing) with humility and courage.
Fundamentally, this is our remembrance of who we truly are; emancipation and empowerment of our humanity as we break out of the prison of our own making; a realization of who we were born to be while living up to our name Homo Sapiens – wise beings.
These times of great winds are ushering in a deeper, wiser, more alive logic by which to operate and organize in business and beyond.
My latest book Future Fit will be out very soon (in the next fortnight) watch this space!
See here a couple of recent reviews:
‘Future Fit provides the reader with practical modules replete with working examples full of snippets of wisdom. It is that rare book that mixes hands-on practicality with a philosophy of the heart.
Giles Hutchins has written a transformational tool for business people and thinkers alike to enable them to adapt from old practices and thinking patterns into new perspectives. Hutchins shows us how to navigate unchartered waters through awareness, personal gnosis, and authenticity. And when Hutchins says – ‘Let’s get practical’ – he lives up to his promise. He reveals how to deal with volatile times ahead by responding with natural creativity, innovation, collaboration, reciprocity, conviviality and empathy.
If I was to choose one guide to cross the Rubicon with into the future business world – it would be Giles Hutchins!’
Kingsley L. Dennis PhD, author of The Phoenix Generation: A New Era of Connection, Compassion and Consciousness
‘Here, collected in one place, is a timely handbook filled with tips and practices for the leader at the forefront of the human evolutionary leap in business today.
Giles has done an extraordinary job of pulling together a wide-ranging set of perspectives and techniques that will help leaders to metamorphose their levels of consciousness and reappraise the contribution they can make. It encourages us to see in systems, collaborate across boundaries and collectively imagine and design the future we really want.
If you are one of these leaders who feels the pull towards shaping our emerging future for a better humanity, this book will be your guide.’
Gina Hayden, Co-Founder of the Global Centre for Conscious Leadership
‘In our world of ever-increasing uncertainty, complexity and social upheaval we stand at a crossroads, both individually and organisationally. And each of us has the same choice – to stick or twist. Either we can continue to spectate from the stands, worrying incessantly about where the current situation is leading us, scouring the horizon for yet more evidence before we commit, and throwing insults at those playing whenever they slip. Or we can get on the pitch and start creating.
Giles’s inspiring, beautifully researched, uplifting and compelling book gives you a plethora of ideas to try out for yourself, and the encouragement that comes from knowing you are far from alone.’
Euan Smith, former COO, Sky Deutschland
‘Future-Fit builds on Hutchins’ previous books and stellar experience as a consultant. Here are critical inquiries, practical steps, and transforming actions to take, that offer lifesaving radical surgery for humanity and the business world.
With breath-taking flair, Hutchins insists on convergence between soul-truth and organisation purpose, and between effective leadership and inner stillness. He dismantles illusions and articulates a bold and sophisticated vision of organisational sanity and new understanding.
Implicit in his argument is that changes which are faltering, cosmetic, minor, sluggish, or embarked on less than whole-heartedly are woefully insufficient: given the world’s plight, both in its human and non-human dimensions, we need an intense seriousness of purpose and a revolutionary scale of re-thinking and action – all of which demands new levels of human maturity. He shows many ways of getting there.’
Dr Malcolm Parlett, author of Future Sense, Five Explorations of Whole Intelligence for a World That’s Waking Up.
Watch a 3min video clip on youtube here
To explore ‘the new paradigm’ further, join the Face Book community here
One step beyond fire-fighting, is the ignition of a cultural metamorphosis – are you ready?
Much vital energy is expended putting out fires while overlooking the need to change the mind-set that causes the fires in the first place.
And so, while important patching up and repairing is undertaken, the problems keep flowing with ever deepening and widening ramifications for ourselves and our children.
The root cause of our sea of troubles is a flawed logic that sets us apart from, and in competition with, our own true nature.
We have become inured in a way of thinking that undermines our humanity, causing all sorts of problems for ourselves, each other and the wider fabric of Life.
This logic is now acculturated, with our cultural constructs, education systems and socio-economic methods steeped in it. It pervades our daily consciousness to such an extent that much of our collective activity assumes it to be just-the-way-life-is.
But it urgently needs addressing if, that is, we are interested in leaving a better world for our children.
To change a cultural mind-set is no small task, yet (fortunately) many people are already on the case, and momentum is building.
The good news is that this profound shift in our cultural mind-set is a liberation of our humanity, an emancipation of the innate empathy, joy, authenticity and biophilic nature of who we truly are.
The more we open up our hearts and minds the more we see beyond the separation, fear and control of yesterday’s logic.
A veil begins to lift from the confusing complex cacophony of our challenges, and a deeper knowing about our way out of this mess becomes apparent.
‘The greatest voyage of our lifetimes, is not in the seeking of new landscapes but in the seeing with new eyes.’ Marcel Proust
Put simply, our development, our learning, our evolution, needs to be rooted in a remembering of the wisdom of Life all around and within us. As Zen teacher Susan Murphy Roshi says, ‘we need to relearn the fundamentals that were once natural to us.’
Today, with each moment, we can begin to sense the innermost weave of the world through our soulful way of being beyond the superficiality of our fragmenting ego; this natural flow of grace is just out of reach of the fickle ego’s endless grasping of having, wanting, owning, controlling, consuming.
To be fully present with self, others and our world is to open up to the wisdom Life. And with this natural grace comes a warmth, an ease, a love, and a righting of ourselves, a healing of our relations, and a birthing of something wiser.
This is not some luxury for the ‘top 1%’ this is our birth-right, our natural capacity as human-beings.
Each and everyone of us has the capacity to become conscious of our interconnectedness with Life, to presence Life as it really is beyond our own ego-filters, acculturations and jaundice judgments.
Mother Nature hear our prayer. Forgive us our trespasses.
As we become conscious of our carcinogenic way of life, we wake up to what we are doing – destroying our future for a superficial present.
‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do’ (Luke 23:34) applies to the unaware, unconscious, asleep. We now live in an era where our carcinogenic ways are known to us… can we truly expect Mother Nature to forgive us our trespasses Ad Infinitum?
What we sow we shall reap. It’s time to learn this basic lesson of Life.
It’s time to start sowing the seeds of our future well-being; sowing the seeds of wisdom and love.
Our current time is the time of the darkening of the light, a time when we experience breakdown that yields breakthrough.
It is up to each of us to take personal responsibility for becoming conscious of, and then start to walk, the only viable path open to us, which begins with opening ourselves up to our authentic human nature found within the wellsprings of our hearts, while learning to quieten the ego-chatter of our thinking minds.
‘We can not do great things, we can only do small things with great love.’ Mother Teresa
To explore ‘the new paradigm’ further, join the Face Book community here
Times like these, the questions run so deep for such a simple mind…
When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful, a miracle, it was beautiful, magical
And all the birds in the trees, well they’d be singing so happily, joyfully, playfully, watching me
But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible, logical, responsible, practical
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable, clinical, intellectual, cynical
There are times when all the world’s asleep
The questions run too deep for such a simple man
Won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned
I know it sounds absurd but please tell me who I am
I said now, watch what you say, now we’re calling you a radical, a liberal, fanatical, criminal
Won’t you sign up your name, we’d like to feel you’re acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable…
(extract) Super Tramp Logical Song.
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone
I… Have become comfortably numb
(extract) Pink Floyd Comfortably Numb
It’s the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming ‘Let me out’
Pray tomorrow – gets me higher high high
Pressure on people – people on streets
Turned away from it all like a blind man
Sat on a fence but it don’t work
Keep coming up with love
but it’s so slashed and torn
Why – why – why ?
Love love love love love
Insanity laughs under pressure we’re cracking
Can’t we give ourselves one more chance
Why can’t we give love that one more chance
‘Cause love’s such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the Night
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under pressure
(extract) Queen & David Bowie, Under Pressure
Tough times demand tough talk
Demand tough hearts demand tough songs
Demand…
We can rise and fall like empires
Flow in and out like the tide
Be vain and smart, humble and dumb
We can hit and miss like pride
Just like pride
We can circle around like hurricanes
Dance and dream like lovers
Attack the day like birds of prey
Or scavengers under cover
Look in…to the eye of the storm
Look out…for the force without form
Look around…at the sight and the sound
Look in look out look around…
Rush (Neil Peart), Force Ten
Look in, look out, look around, feel the wisdom of Nature within and all around us. Just feel. This is the beginning of any right thought, action, deed. It is in the stillness within the movement that we find the generative wisdom we need for today’s solutions unfettered by yesterday’s logic.
Next time we feel the urge to do something, let’s remind ourselves to just be. The ‘being’ is what infuses the ‘doing’, otherwise the ‘doing’ is just distraction which narrows our sight and sound, warping us, numbing us, cutting us off from what really matters.
‘Our sense of separation from nature corrupts us, it fuels an arrogance a hubris whereupon common sense becomes insanity.’ Gregory Bateson
It’s time to let the wildness back in to our conscious attention so that we can call upon its generative wisdom. The times we live in demand nothing less.
To explore ‘the new paradigm’ further, join the Face Book community here
Embracing Systemic Thinking for our Firms of the Future
Many experts now point to a Great Transition unfolding at multi-dimensional levels, locally and globally in business and society. One important aspect of this transition is our corporate logic – the logic underpinning our prevalent way of organizing and operating in business – shifting from mechanistic management logic to the logic of living systems.
Too many of today’s organizations find themselves caught up in a top-down, hierarchic, KPI-obsessed, siloed, control-based, defensive and reactive fire-fighting mind-set that is actually undermining our organizational and personal vitality and resilience. It is this mechanistic logic that is preventing us from adequately dealing with the complex interconnected problems we now face.
With this urgent frame front-of-mind, I recently interviewed one of the world’s most well-respected systems-theorists, Fritjof Capra. Here is the interview, with Fritjof’s responses in italics:
How do our practitioners, leaders, managers and entrepreneurs best apply ‘systemic thinking’ with regard to this shift in corporate logic from mechanistic to living systems? Any tips?
Business organizations need to undergo a fundamental transformation today for two reasons: to adapt to an ever more complex global business and organizational environment, and to become ecologically sustainable. This is where a ‘systems view of life’ can provide important conceptual tools. Systems-science teaches us that living systems continually regenerate themselves by transforming or replacing their components. They undergo continual structural changes while preserving their web-like patterns of organization. Understanding life means understanding its inherent change processes. Once we have that understanding, we can begin to design processes of organizational change accordingly and to create human organizations that mirror life’s adaptability, diversity, and creativity.
A Journal from the End of Times
In this article Grant J Riley, author of ‘A Journal from the End of Times’ touches on his journey and journal.
First of all, thank you to Giles Hutchins for posting this article about my book. I met Giles a few years back at Schumacher College, a place where many common loves and apprehensions are shared for the future of humanity and its host planet. We have stayed in touch ever since. I was studying a Master’s degree in Holistic Science at the time and writing ‘A Journal from the End of Times’. It was shortly after my return from Central America, where I had spent much time with, and had been greatly influenced by, the resident Maya peoples.
However, let’s go back to the summer of 2010, and a conversation I had with a good, old friend of mine who was living in Chiapas, Mexico. She had been witnessing a flurry of interest in the so-called Mayan prophecies for the approaching year 2012. I was travelling back from Africa overland at this time and was increasingly being struck by climatic calamity (floods in particular) and as an ecologist was increasingly concerned about the state of the world. We both met back in England that summer. My friend explained that many Western and New-Age followers were flocking to Mesoamerica to discuss these ‘end of the world’ predications, yet none of these numerous conferences, and huge amount of books and websites being created, seemed to have any genuine connection with the actual contemporary Maya. There are currently over 7 million Maya living in Mesoamerica today. To cut this long story short, she asked me if I would accompany her on her latest film project to ask the Maya what they thought about the 2012 prophecies.
So she bought an old truck, I drove it. We made a film the ‘Mayan Word’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwvpsVsawMg) and I wrote a book about it all. Simple as that… well, no, actually none of it was that simple.
Our route took us from the heart of the Zapatista territories in Mexico, along the Pan-American Highway to the Mayan regions of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize. On our journey we discovered the resurgent voice of the Maya following decades of civil war and centuries of persecution.
The story is told through encounters with spiritual guides, environmental activists, day keepers, Zapatistas and an intriguing assemblage of characters from modern indigenous life; from hip-hop artists to permaculturists. Our exploration culminates at the COP 16 climate conference in Cancun, Mexico, with the attendance of Bolivia’s indigenous president Evo Morales speaking to the grassroots movement ‘Via Campesino’.
The Maya came to receive global attention with their 2012 prophecies, yet at the time of embarking on our journey little opportunity had been given for these people to be heard.
We found the Maya to have a lot to share with us, with many similar concerns as our own. Environmental degradation, climate change, social injustice, imperialism, neoliberalism and so much more, oh – and a little bit was said about those prophecies. However, a deeper association and respect was held for their ancestors… it’s all there in the book!
I would just like to close this blog with a few quotes from some good friends, who encapsulate my book better than I ever could…
From Melissa Gunasena (Director of the Mayan Word):
Weaving together personal reflection with social, historical, environmental narrative and extensive research this book is important for anyone interested in the fight for contemporary Mayans to save both their culture and the environment from destruction.
From Ramor Ryan (Author of Zapatista Spring and Clandestines):
At once a journey through the Mayan heartlands and a philosophical reverie on the end of the world, A Journal from the End of Times offers a unique insight into the mysterious Mesoamerican underworld. From the scalding fires of experience, Grant Riley’s on-the-road tales are both hilarious and thoughtful. An epic read.
The book is available in paperback from:
Please feel free to email for any other enquiries grantjriley@gmail.com
…and thanks again Giles!
If you like this blog and the articles posted here, feel free to join the Face Book community here
What is Nature and is it imbued with wisdom?
The crises in our midst are in part a crisis of resources and also a crisis of relationships, yet fundamentally they are a crisis of spirit.
This fundamental crisis of spirit is due to our sense of separation from Nature, the very ground of our being, which has become de-sacralized over the centuries to the now prevalent view that Nature is nothing more that something outside of us, something to be controlled and manipulated for human betterment. This de-sacralization is at the very heart of our crises, as it brings psychic impoverishment which fuels an anxiety and egotism that then displays itself through our ‘grasping’, ‘consuming’, ‘competing’ mentality corrupting our relations with each other and life itself.
For me Nature has an immanent and transcendent quality which is intangible and beyond definition. There is an abundance of diverse expressions within this intangibility and tangibility of landscapes, ecosystems and organisms of which we are but one beautiful expression.
‘Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is imagination itself.’ William Blake
I can perhaps attempt to explain through words this quality of Nature as ‘an all-pervading presence’ that lies largely beyond what our rational minds can grasp, though may be intuited and sensed as a very real enlivening presence in our lives. Upon our rational mind and ego-consciousness opening up to and permeating with this presence, our conscious awareness can begin to explore shadowy depths within a deeper Mind of Nature: the ground of our being.
This is where ancestral instincts, morphic fields, akashic records and memories lie that can take shape in our imagination, dreams, felt-senses, intuition, and archetypal and instinctual urges. Yet there is more than simply instinct here, there is the urgency of evolution, the authentic unfolding of becoming more than we are, along with non-local phenomena such as synchronicity and inter-species communication which at best feel uncomfortable within our current materialistic mindset, yet are now being re-cognized through a quantum view of reality.
‘The story of the mind exiled from Nature is the story of Western Man’ – Ted Hughes
We may gain access to this all-pervasive presence through our soul which is found in the Eye of the Heart within each of us. The veil between our ego consciousness and this deeper soul awareness may rarefy upon us sitting quietly in Nature, say next to a stream or a tree, or perhaps when we catch a glimpse of the awe-inspiring Milky Way or crescent Moon in the sky at night.
To sit in Nature and just feel, rather than cluttering our experience with conclusions and judgments. Try it out – sit for five minutes next to a tree of your choice and just feel.
Tried and tested contemplative and meditative practices as well as breathing, yogic and T’ai Chi techniques may aid this opening-up. Through dreams, intuitions, synchronistic moments, Deja vu’s, second senses, shamanic experiences, epiphanies, moments of grace and soulful reveries we open up to this deeper presence within and all around us – Nature, as a World Soul, a Mind nested within a Cosmic Consciousness that permeates universes beyond comprehension.
‘Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different’ William James
The Sufi scholar Henry Corbin coined the term Imaginal Realm to describe this presence which lies just beyond our normal waking consciousness yet can be accessed through ‘sacred imagination’ whereupon we allow our consciousness to open up to this deeper ground to illuminate hidden depths within and all around us – here the unseen or invisible worlds may begin to be comprehended. We access a wisdom quite beyond words; what the ancient Greeks referred to as Sophia, a Goddess flowing throughout Nature.
This provides for a richer, deeper more purposeful meaning of life to emerge within us, while allowing a deepening of our authenticity. Our true destiny begins to emerge within our conscious awareness – and the cluttering choking cacophony of our ego-chatter subsides.
As we attune we begin to realize that our destiny and purpose in this life is to attune with this deeper soulful consciousness, as it is through this that our lives become infused with purpose, meaning and authentic creative potential. Our current sense of separation from Nature is, therefore, the very root of all our problems, as it starves us from place new steps of change that are in harmony with Life.
The way ahead for us is to re-cognize and re-member the sacredness of Nature within and all around us. Ancient philosophers such as Pythagoras and Thales at the foundations of our Western civilization, along with more recent minds such as Whitehead, Hartshorne and James all understood the animating principle within Nature as an expression of a deeper, richer consciousness which we would do well to attune to. We can open up to this wisdom within every moment of life; each moment offering us this enchanting gift. Eckhart Tolle calls it ‘The Power of Now’, the inherent power and wisdom of Nature.
Conscious awareness of this deeper wisdom found within the ground of our being brings a humbling reverence for life and our role within its sacredness. We simultaneously open up to our awesome potential as conscious co-creators in this wise world, and also bow into service upon recognizing something far greater than what our poor ego consciousness can grasp. A humbling yet awe-inspiring awakening which some may call a revelation or conscious illumination where upon we realize the co-creative process of becoming our destiny. This is Nature uncut, wise beyond words.
‘We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.’ T.S Eliot
For more on how we can re-sacralize Nature and transition to a truly sustainable paradigm inspired by and in harmony with Nature see the The Illusion of Separation.
‘Cutting through habitual denials and academic evasions, Giles Hutchins exposes the delusion at the root of our planetary crisis. And with a holographic richness of resources and disciplines, he discloses—indeed activates—the attitude that might just provoke our needed evolution. This is a wise and urgent text: may it be heard, and soon!’ – Catherine Keller, Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew University, author of On the Mystery
Watch a short 2 mins video on The Illusion of Separation
To explore ‘the new paradigm’ further, join the Face Book community here
Welcome to the Millennial Age
The next ten years shall bear witness to social businesses outperforming traditional businesses in a big way, and the reason for this can be summed up in one word… millennials.
Over half the world’s population is now younger than 30 years old. Two generations have now grown up with the internet. It doesn’t take a degree in anthropology to notice that the world is very different today than it was 30 years ago.
In 2010, 1.2 billion people were online globally. By 2020, that number will reach 5 billion. Nearly 3 billion more people, along with their collective intelligence, will be available for value creation and delivery via smartphones, tablets and internet cafes. The capabilities being unleashed are unprecedented.
Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles; Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content; Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory; Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation-provider, owns no real estate. The institutional and ownership powers of old are being challenged by the empowering effect of the network.
Technology is eroding barriers to entry while challenging incumbents to transform. The internet makes it possible for customers to switch to better products in a heartbeat. It’s now possible for the tiny upstairs to compete with and outperform corporate giants.
A case in point is the online marketplace Etsy which unleashes the skills of designers and makers around the world using a platform that helps them compete with big retailers and global brands. By giving people the chance to buy unique items directly from artisans who make them, Etsy doesn’t just give these artisans a livelihood it also fosters relations between maker and consumer in ways unimaginable without internet.
30 years ago, if you wanted to reach a billion people, you needed to be Coca-Cola with employees in a hundred countries. Today you can be a kid in a garage who uploads an app onto a few key platforms. Your competition is no longer the multinational corporations overseas, it’s the guy or gal in the Silicon Valley or Bandra (Mumbai) garage using the latest online tools to design and cloud print their latest innovation.
Today, social technologies mean we can often achieve more with a lot less ownership and infrastructure. Just read Whats App’s story. When they sold for $19billion to Facebook they employed less than 20 people full time. And it’s not just the Silicon Valley e-commerce stereo-types, this applies to manufacturers too (e.g. Local Motors).
Here are some ‘disruptors to BAU’ coming downstream: Crowd-powered businesses cutting out intermediaries, social entrepreneurs doing everything in partnership, the sharing economy, mobile-everything.
The best people do not want to work in bureaucratic organisations. They want to be in an environment that is lean and agile, exciting and creative, empowering and empathic, purposeful and passionate. They want to see the impact of their work on a day to day basis; they want to feel involved. And most importantly they want to feel a meaningful connection with the value they create, rather than feeling like lost cogs enslaved in the monolith of machine mentality.
What many of us crave for are more meaningful moments and life-experiences. More time to spend following our curiosity. More time to build nourishing relationships and friendship. More time to really experience the world as well as what is around us here and now. More time to enjoy the simple things in life, to be present with our loved ones, with our friends, acquaintances and strangers we meet along the way. Yet much of the time our working life starves us of what is most precious to us – time and space to become who we truly are – social, curious, playful and purposeful humans.
Each generation experiences significant change due to innovations, disruptions and shifting perspectives transforming our ways of operating and organizing in business and beyond. Yet, the times in which we live herald paradigmic and metamorphic shifts radically challenging what we do and the way we do it, calling into question our sense of purpose and demanding wholly new ways of creating and delivering value. This is in part due to the catalytic effect of digitization and globalization, and in part due to the urgent trilemma of economic, environmental and social challenges now upon us. Amid all this, there are complex shifts affecting each of us at deep and partly unconscious levels, challenging how we perceive ourselves, each other and the world around us. It is simultaneously an immensely exciting, liberating, scary and fearful time to be involved in the future of business. Welcome to the Millennial Age!
See here to download the latest report on Redefining The Nature of Business In The Millennial Age.
To explore ‘the new paradigm’ further, join the Face Book community here
Here you can watch two short videos about The Illusion of Separation and The Nature of Business
It may be premature – but – Wishing You A Merry Christmas 2015.
The Nature of Business 