SUSTAINABILITY

WE NEED TO BE THINKING DIFFERENTLY

In most cultures today we see ourselves separated from the world around us especially from nature and the big picture, the web of life - ours and every other species life support system. This separation is an illusion.

How do we create the illusion? It is through how we think. How we think is how we perceive.

In Western culture our way of thinking is linear (straight line) and dualistic. We go after what we want, outcomes, and lose our ability to see through a wider more expansive lens, the big picture of what we are part of. As a result, we see the planet as a resource that is here for us and us alone and as a result deplete and destroy the very thing that sustains us, the economy and all life on this planet. We therefore need to see ourselves and the world differently if we are to sustain all life and the economy on the planet.

REDEFINING SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability needs to be redefined as the ability to sustain all life not just human as we are intrinsically interconnected and interdependent with the web of life, the life support system that sustains all life. As a result of this redefinition we then know what we need to be doing and where to put our efforts.

So what kind of thinking do we need to be doing that enables us to see this intrinsic interconnectedness and interdependency? It is Systems Thinking.

WHAT DOES SYSTEMS THINKING ENABLE US TO DO

Systems Thinking is Reflective and enables us to think about the impacts and consequences, potential outcomes of our thoughts and actions. We are able to see with foresight, intelligence and wisdom before taking action. We also see the inherent circularity of our actions, whatever we do to the environment we ultimately in the end, do to ourselves.

Circularity, interconnectedness and interdependency, the actual systemic reality of life, is crucial to see if we are to sustain all life on the planet.

Innovations and solutions using Systems Thinking is therefore essential to bring about a sustainable world.

To find out more or book a consulting appointment, please email me.

WHO I AM

I am an author, speaker and consultant on change and also the Founder and CEO of Life’s Natural Solutions, a consulting and education service providing thinking tools for change through the lens of how we think. How we think is both the problem and the solution for change.

I am the author of three books - Living Systems: An Introductory Guide to the Theories of Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, The Circularity of Life: An Essential Shift for Sustainability and WTF!?…How Am I Thinking: A Thinking Tool for Change.

I am an expert on the Biology of Cognition, the work of Chilean Biologist and Systems Thinker, Prof. Humberto Maturana who has received many international awards for his ground breaking work, the theories of living systems, perception and the biology of cognition. 

I have given many talks, workshops and seminars on the Biology of Cognition to a vast array of academic and non-academic audiences in both Australia and the United States.

I am a former Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Systems Studies, a bi-annual academic journal dedicated to applied systems theory and am part of the Great Transition Initiative (GTI), an international network of scholars and activists that analyzes alternative scenarios and charts a path to a hopeful future. I am a former member of the Advisory Board of the Barcelona Consensus, a project dedicated to transitioning to a sustainable society.  I also initiated and led a global campaign to transition to a sustainable economy, Circular Economy.