Workplaces, elections and the need/opportunity for collective reimagining

A narrated, video version of this newsletter an be found at the bottom of this post

The prompt for my newsletter update today comes from an article that I read earlier called 'How many countries around the world use proportional representation?'.

There is one section in particular that I wanted to explore more deeply with you today as it weaves a lot of systemic threads for me across home, work and society at large, and I hope it offers value to you:

"There are?109 countries?which use either a Proportional Representation or a mixed system across the world. Only?47 countries?use the?First Past The Post?system, a minority of countries globally, one of which is the United Kingdom.

Those that still use First Past the Post tend to have it as a result of being former British colonies."

Narratives

• A moment of reflection.

Think about the number of times that the UK or the US, in particular, are quoted as being 'developed countries,' whether at work, on the news etc

Yet the likes of The Congo, Colombia, Bangladesh, Vietnam and even Rwanda, a country where the UK government as-is wants to ship equally valuable, creative, sentient human beings out of the UK who are deemed 'not welcome', are all deemed to be 'developing countries' in our Western parlance, yet all of them are currently being governed in more democratic ways than the UK is today!

Want some evidence of this playing out in real time?

Check out this link below from the UK Government's website which highlights countries defined as developing by the OECD:

• Another moment of reflection.

Going further, think about where so many of the rare earth metals originate from that end up in our cars, computers and phones.

Also go and check the labels in your clothing to see where it is manufactured and you can very quickly join some dots between the fact that these so-called developing countries are often the same countries that are governed using more democratic means than the UK and US.

How then are they all so 'poor' and labelled with 'developing' status when they come from such mineral, land, community and even politically rich locations?

Maybe it is the fact we in the West own (steal) and extract (monopolise) so much of 'their' material worth to keep us in our perceived comfort, even though there is enough to go around.

I know you and I are not actually doing this directly, but we are active participants in systems (capitalism and hegemony) that makes this indirectly so.

It is near impossible not to be active participants these systems are the water we swim in.

What are you thinking and what are your thoughts?

Are the UK and the US, therefore, really so 'developed' ......?

How is this relevant to the workplace?

Think about the place or places where you work today.

Where does the power sit? If this is not so obvious, please answer the following questions for yourself:

• Do you hear colleagues saying things like "We'll need to run it by XX before we move forward"?
• Do you feel safe to make a comment or statement that is counter or even challenging of the dominant narratives of the workplace?
• Who are the people most feared or those people that you are told to be on your best behaviour around?

How you answer these questions will give you a sense as to where the power sits within those workplaces and spaces.

I can almost guarantee if you work in the UK or US and you are reading this article, all of that human activity, energy and innovation gets harvested towards a central CEO or owner.

Look at the all time high profits of energy companies and where that money is coming from, and you can a similar flow, from the masses to the few, occurring.

Please do let me know in the comments if this is not the case or you have other examples, but the point I am trying to make here is, and this is at least my experience of working over the past 25 years, is that the same mindset that sees us as 'developed' and better in the West than those so called 'developing countries'.

Despite working, often, within workplace systems and under government systems that are regressive, inequitable and indeed even cause harm, we still embrace the narrative of being more 'developed' in the West.

Are we ALL suffering from a conditioned, also known as, colonised mind?

A mind that sees some humans as 'less than' and even worse, human and non-human life as fully 'disposable.'

What do you think is going on there?

If you have not seen it before, take a look at the work of Tema Okun were they identify a range of cultural patterns that are regular blockers in our busy as usual Western business models i.e right to comfort, defensiveness, binary thinking etc

I am pleased to say that there are people and organisations seeking to move to much more humane, inclusive, generative ways and I was pleased to speak with two such humans as part of a previous Community Campfire livestream alongside my co-host Sahana Chattopadhyay:

Haluk Can Hur and Tom van der Lubbe joined us as we discussed the decentralisation of power and how critically important it is to move to more 'self-managed' or 'collectively organised' ways of designing and running our businesses.

The opportunity to reimagine

Collective reimagining is just so critically crucial, as is our creativity, connectedness and vulnerability if we are to have any chance of leaving a thriveable planet to generations to come.

All of the above is heart + head based, not just logic based, and THIS is the work of our time.

Imagining new narratives seems just so deeply important and I am grateful to exploring this topic, among many others, with co-hosts Trina Casey and Sahana Chattopadhyay as part of our Hegemony Revealed live-stream that goes live on Mon 27th Mar 2023 at 0700am EST / 1200pm UK and then every two weeks from Weds 17th May 2023.

Your opportunity to chart a new path for UK politics on May 4th 2023

I am not seeking to convince you with this post, but if you do live in the UK and you care about trying to imagine a revised UK political landscape that truly works for the many and not just the few, consider bolstering the Green Party in your local elections.

It is not just about environmental topics, as important as they are.

It is also about clean and safe streets, connected, anti-racist community, unconditional basic income, fair wages and of course, proportional representation.

I am running in the West Hill, Dartford ward (why not follow me here :)) and look forward to seeing how we center those voices and life more widely in all that we do as we seek to co-create more just, inclusive, fair and healthy futures.

Again there IS enough to go around, there just isn't the will from those dictating current systems to share it, yet despite all of the 'evidence' and 'data' that we now have as to the collapsing path we are all on.

I feel resolute, inspired and pragmatic as we enter a new so-called week.

How are you doing and being?

Shall we connect?

My name is Garry Turner and I am a Disruption and Innovation Catalyst working at the intersection of International Sales, People and Culture, Equity & Inclusion and Sustainability:

• International business development and authentic relationship building human working within and across a Euro 3bn + corporation?
• International speaker on topics around human-centered design, vulnerability and change is an inside job
• Support senior leaders and mission driven solopreneurs as a Thinking Partner
• Facilitator of people-centered workshops and organisational design
• Guide of 1–1 personal, transformational Exploration Spaces
• The co-creator with Jo Hompstead of Human Development Space in-person gatherings which are an emergent and co-creative space for both businesses and open groups

Digital Business Card — https://link.v1ce.co.uk/GarryTurner?

LinkedIn — https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/garryturnerthinkingpartner

Linktree — https://linktr.ee/HexoChangeGarryTurner