Two Inconvenient Women

Dive into the fascinating world of systems thinking with a humorous twist! Explore how interconnectedness shapes our education, workplace well-being, and even community theater. Discover the power of playful engagement in understanding systems through interactive activities. Challenge conventional ideas of success and economic growth, introducing 'donut economics' for a balanced approach. Lastly, rethink the purpose of education to foster engaged, relational individuals in society. It’s a profound take on how we all fit into the vast web of life!

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

In this week’s episode of Two Inconvenient Women, Holly and Rachel talk about the inconvenience of critical thinking – for many reasons, one being its growing absence in our schools, despite the fact that leading reports into future-fit education all concur that it is a foundational skill needed for our changing world.From the very get-go at ThoughtBox, we've had critical thinking as one of the three pillars of our work (Thinking, Feeling, Connecting) and designed all of our programmes to support the practice. One of the very first ThoughtBox slogans was 'Learning how (not what) to think'. Our very name as an organisation is a subtle invitation to be thinking 'outside of the box'. And yet it this is a skill that is both subtly and blatantly being removed from our education systems, whilst our dominant globalised culture is actively encouraging it out of us.This week we discuss questions such as ‘What does it mean to think critically? Why is stepping back to ask deeper, more challenging questions becoming a lost art? What is being lost when we lose our ability to think outside of the box?’In this episode we reference the following:UK Government's AI Plan - Guardian (news article)1984 - George Orwell (novel)Online safety bill report - BBC (news article)The Divided Brain - Ian McGilchrist (TED video)Transforming Leadership course (online training)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) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In many cultures around the world, we are entering a new calendar year and with that often comes a sense of renewal, hope and possibility. But where does hope sit in a world that seems so overwhelmingly fraught with problems? What place do 'resolutions' or 'good intentions' have in our lives when facing so many obstacles? How can we reclaim hope from being seen as something ephemeral and return it to what it truly is - an active verb with its sleeves rolled up, ready to take action?In this conversation, Rachel and Holly talk about active hope and the process of actively creating a healthier, more hopeful future. We explore some of the ways that new habits can become life-long changes in our lives and help create healthier ways of living, as well as how we can re-think our relationship to hope, by seeing it as something we do, rather than something we have.In this episode we reference the following:Nick Cave - The Red Hand Files (website)Morgan Phillip's Learning Lunch - Our Shared World (webinar recording) David Whyte - Everything is waiting for you poem)  Kim's Stories of Triple WellBeing episode (podcast)Hope is the thing with feathers - Emily Dickinson (poem)Fixer Upper - Frozen (song)Triple WellBeing Card Deck (resource)Triple WellBeing Practitioners (training course) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As 2024 comes to a close, we thought we'd take a moment to reflect on what's unfolded this year and - more significantly - what's been unfolding through our organisation over the past 9 years to make us do what we do in the way that we do it.In this episode, Holly and Rachel explore ideas such as: What does success look like? What does it mean to run an organisation 'regeneratively'? How does our business strategy reflect our values? How is showing up as our authentic selves part of the impact of our organisation? What does it mean to practise what we preach?During the conversation, we reference the following:The Triple WellBeing Manifesto (website page)School for Social Entrepreneurs (website)Stories of Triple WellBeing (podcast)Frédéric Laloux - organisational Structures (model / website)The Story of Triple WellBeing (ebook) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Belonging is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us, and within each of us sits a deeply primal need to gather together. But what does gathering look like in our modern world?In this week's episode, Holly and Rachel explore the many facets of gathering and where and how we are all seeking to find places to belong. We explore questions such as: How and why do we gather? What does gathering offer us on a conscious and unconscious level? What do we need to feel safe when we gather? What is gained and what is being lost when we gather online? How can we enable gathering spaces which allow everyone to feel welcome?During the episode we reference the following:Intraconnected, Dr Dan Siegel (article & website)The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker (book & website)Where and how we have gathered over time (video)All that we share (short advert)Spirals of belonging (ThoughtBox)Belong, Radha Agrawal (book)Inside out QuestionsTransforming Education Summit, ThoughtBoxTriple WellBeing® Fellowship, ThoughtBoxHolly’s Head - her part in the play! (picture) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the UK we're coming up to Christmas, and with that the cultural pressure to consume, buy gifts and accumulate lots of 'stuff'. In this episode we explore some of the narratives around our consumer culture, thinking about where this has come from and how we can actively disrupt our cultural stories to shift from 'consumer' to 'citizen'. We explore the meaning behind gift-giving, the impact of giving, receiving and witnessing acts of care and kindness, the scarcity versus abundance mindset and the many, many ways we can show people we care above and beyond just buying stuff.In this episode we referenced the following:Jon Alexander - Citizens (Book & website)Common Cause Foundation (non-profit organisation)ThoughtBox Care Calculator (free resource)ThoughtBox Food & Clothes curriculum (teaching resource)Rachel & Holly's homemade gifts! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week saw the conclusion of COP29 - the 29th annual UN Conference of Parties summit on climate change. The fact that we're now on our 29th conference and global emissions are still rising is perhaps an indication that this is not working. This year in particular saw a lot of people from inside the conference speaking out about its flaws.In this episode Holly and Rachel explore some of the inconvenient truths about the business as usual story of 'leaders saving the world', discussing the flaws of this current system of climate negotiations and reflect on why and how this current model of COP just doesn't work. We turn attention and discussions onto the role of 'citizening' as an active verb, and reflect on how more and more people are no longer waiting for 'them' to fix things, but are instead quietly and loudly just getting on with 'us' changing the world.In this episode we reference the following:The history of climate negotiations in 83 seconds (video)COP26 Tuvalu address (video)Open letter from inside COP 29 (letter)Climate Majority Project (citizens movement)Three stories of our time - Joanna Macy (website)Alok Sharma COP26 (video)Jon Alexander - Citizens (website /book)Rebecca Solnit research (article)The Hypocrite (short film)Transforming Leadership Course (online course)Re-Action Collective: Citizen Friday (movement)How to Citizen (Podcast) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What on earth are we eating? This is a topic we've wanted to explore deeply over time, recognising that there are many episodes that will unravel under the title of 'food'. In this episode we spend time thinking about our changing relationship with food and how our abilities to make healthy food choices are hampered by so many broken systems around us. From the lack of learning about growing or cooking in schools to the rise of GMO crops and the link between UPFs (ultra-processed foods) and health issues, we explore some of the complexities of our global food systems and reflect on where and how we have lost our relationship with food.In this episode we reference the following:Triple WellBeing Curriculum - Exploring FoodSeeds of Freedom (website & films)UK's unhealthy food habits (article)Ultra Processed People - Chris van Tullekan (book)Care Calculator (resource)Michael Pollen on cooking (RSA video)Clarkson's Farm (TV series)Chefs in Schools (Social enterprise)Inglorious fruits and veg (campaign)Tristram Stuart - The global food-waste scandal (Ted Talk)Gut - Guilia Enders (Ted Talk and Book)Rachel's favourite carrot (image)Quasimodo the Cucumber (image) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the most inconvenient truths for many people in the world is that 'we are nature', and that we (like all natural beings) are heavily influenced by the rhythms of the natural world; whether that is the sun and moon, the light and the seasons, the climate or the foods we eat. So what happens when we actively ignore - or even fight against - these natural rhythms and the needs of our mammalian selves? What is the impact on our bodies, our minds, our health and our wellbeing?In this episode we explore some of life's rhythms that govern our lives and help us to navigate our way in the world, and think about why and how our dominant culture is actively ignoring these in our structures and systems, and what some of the ramifications of this somewhat imbalanced way of living may be. In this episode we reference the following:The Wheel of the Year (visual)Laurence Winram (land artist)Circadian Rhythms (short video explainer)Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer (book)Ffyona Campbell - Author, traveller & foragerAnti-light pollution movement (French protest)In time of Daffodils - EE Cummings (poem) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.