Anthropology
Change requires robust understanding of the incentives and hegemonic structures, rituals, artefacts, language, and belief systems rooted within existing organisational and political contexts. Once we understand the (written & unwritten) rules of the game, we know where to target our efforts to usher in a new normal.
Critical Futurism
I borrow methods from futurist methodology & speculative design, and I take inspiration from the arts and creative sectors who don’t wait for handed-down policies, recommendations and external validation before acting to bring into being new ways of thinking, doing, living and progressing.
Pedagogy
Reflecting on how we, as people, learn (and act on that learning) prompts us to be critical of our default to static, written, uni-directional, sanctified, technocratic processes. In doing so, we open the way for advocacy and change that looks more experiential, relational, non-linear, creative – and more human.
Un-orthodoxy
Decolonial practice is like science fiction. It has the power to unshackle our thinking from the categories, assumptions, and judgements we’ve been socialised into. Analysing how our conventions reproduce our dysfunctions is key to plotting out new scenarios and alternate future trajectories.
Explicit-Political Strategy©
We can’t act strategically if we’re thinking in euphemisms. Explicit-Political means interrogating what usually passes unnoticed (explicit) and acting in the knowledge that nothing and no one is neutral (political). We have to get explicit about the ‘why’ and ‘how’, so we can be political about the ‘what’.
Orchestras Of Action©
I coined the term ‘orchestra of action’ to signify ways of working that recognise the importance of a division of labour, cooperative energy and a diverse range of actors. Every strategy for change should feel vocational as well as strategic, reflecting the unique reach, resources and reputation of that actor.