Changing for the better
We’re living in a time shot through with fear. We’re never far from a news story about the terrifying effects of economic, political or meteorological change.
Over the weekend, I saw a different kind of change in action. I was at the Happy Startup School Summer Camp, out in the woods in Sussex. It was three intense days of talks, workshops, and in huge contrast to any other business-related event I’ve been to, hugs.
The thing that has stayed with me the most, however, is the conversations. I had so many, sincere, heartfelt, positive discussions with people that I’m still trying to process some of the things I learnt. The common thread through it all was that people wanted to change things for the better, and have empowered themselves to do so.
This wasn’t just a field full of starry-eyed idealists. The people I spoke to were already doing amazing things. Some are running great companies, like Ruth Anslow of the independent supermarket Hisbe, Steve Stark of Bignose and Beardy cider company, and Gjis Herpers of the BoP Innovation Centre. Others are supporting people’s development, like author Pete Mosely, hip-hop producer Soma Prieto, and coach Anne Burniston. Everyone else was either transforming the organisation they work in from within, or about to start.
I discovered that my understanding of change was wrong. I thought that to change things you had to fight, and that there had to be losers as well as winners. Yes, you’d be changing things for the greater good, but there was always a cost. What I found at Summercamp, however, was a new approach, where change is a thing to be celebrated rather than feared.
I’m not really sure how this works yet. It might be something which you need to feel for yourself to understand. It seems to me, though, that by really connecting with a group of people and accessing all of their skills, insight and passion it’s possible to dissolve problems, rather than solving them. The value of this kind of close cooperation is almost limitless. You have access to approaches that simply make the problem vanish, rather than needing to be tackled.
With the skills, knowledge, and wonderful new friends I met I’m in the best place I’ve ever been to move my own business forward, and start changing the things that most need my attention. I can’t remember a time when I’ve ever been so clear about what I needed to do, or felt so supported in doing it. I’ve always been something of a misfit in the adult world; a little too enthusiastic, a little too idealistic. Turns out, tapping into these traits is exactly what was needed.
Maybe you don’t feel entirely comfortable with the way things are done. If you have an small voice which tells you that there’s a better way, please listen to it. That small voice can lead you to great things. Check out the Happy Startup School and find out if it’s for you. Even if you don’t come to one of their events, take a look at what Carlos Saba and Laurence McCahill write. These guys are changing the world for the better.
