The term impossible object (or hyperobject) is sometimes used to describe something that exceeds our logic, our available grammar or our institutional reach. Climate change, radioactive waste, microplastics and artificial intelligence feel like impossible objects. It doesn’t matter what we say or try to do about them; they have an essence that exceeds our grasp.
Last week, I facilitated a climate leadership event with a public agency. We’d spent the day working through the challenges of translating policy into action, navigating the gap between ambition and implementation. At the close of the session, one participant offered a reflection that has stayed with me. He said he felt “vexed“! He said
And yet we know that an organisation, a community or a sector that wants to learn and find new solutions has to be willing to look at the information that disconfirms its past beliefs and practices. Communities, organisations or sectors that want to stay vital must search out surprise, look for what is startling, uncomfortable and possibly even shocking.
The FAO has a fascinating role as a mediator between private and public interests. It will do well not to become captured by one or the other.
Multiple themes, ideas and threads were shared throughout the day. But, the unifying message that kept cropping up for all the challenge areas was building greater capacity for facilitation and engagement to effectively address Status Quo Bias (SQB).
The torrential flow of learning is disorientating, confusing and renders us less capable of informed action. An effective learning infrastructure enables organisations to balance learning flows with a stock of learning. All flow and no stock makes organisations stupid!