Ecological organisations: reimagining our organisations and communities as radically responsible and responsive ecosystem members

Hello and welcome everyone. It's November 20th, 2023. We're here in ACT-INF OrgStream 5.1 with Anna-Marie Swan discussing ecological organizations. So thank you very much for joining. We will be looking forward to a talk followed by a discussion. So to those who are watching along live, please feel free to add your questions in the live chat. And thank you again for joining Anna-Marie. Really looking forward to this. Oh, pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. It's been very interesting to discover the work that you're doing here at the Institute. I'd never heard of the work of active interference, the phrase like what's that about. And it struck me as I was, as you were explaining it to me a little bit when you reached out and as I explored the term myself, that it's fascinating because it feels like we're coming into organizations or group dynamics, perhaps from different entryways, but I can really see the small amount I know, the relationship and ways that we could explore together. So it's a real pleasure to be here and talk to you a bit about ecological organizations. And yeah, actually, I think you've introduced, you shared the link to my website in your in the in the, so I won't dive too much into kind of introducing myself. But yeah, based here in the UK in Exeter. And I've been absolutely fascinated with organizations and group dynamics, very specifically for about seven years, and that's become my work in my world. And over those years, my perception of organizations and groups within organizations has changed quite a bit. And where I'm at now is looking at organizations through this very specific lens of ecological organizations. So let me get set up and then we'll dive into the course into the talk. Hey, so during today's talk, I'm asking you to join me on a journey into exploring and examining the nature of an organization as a co-created story, and why this story matters, in particular to how we view the role of organizations. We'll set off on our journey by investigating the story of our body as a singularity, a complete and separate entity with clear and discoverable borders. Take what we learn about our bodies into investigating the story of an organization as a singularity, a complete and separate entity with clear and discoverable borders. And with these investigations as our signposts, we'll arrive at ecological organizations as a co-created story that asks us to radically reimagine the role of organizations in the world. Because with all good stories that center a journey, we'll need some aids to help us along the way. So first we'll hold truth as a lowercase t, truth that is formed of living questions that open up new questions. Second, we'll adopt different lenses to look at an organization through, including an animist lens. And third, we'll hold the we that I speak of as a we that's whiteness dominated, European centered, and a neo-capitalist world that I inhabit, and not as a reflection of all people and all perspectives. I truly believe that the time has come for us to reimagine stories of organizations as ecological, and through co-creating the story of ecological organizations, become radically responsive and responsible ecosystem stewards. To give ourselves some way of tasting what being ecological means, I'm going to ask you to close your eyes for a while. You don't have to, but I think you'll find this talk much richer if you join me by investigating your lived experience. Bring your attention to your body. What is your experience of being in your body right now? What physical sensations do you notice? Do you notice your heart beating? Can you feel your body breathing in and out? Now bring your attention to what you're sitting or standing on. Investigate the place where your body meets another surface. Can you tell where that point of contact exactly is? Are you losing heat or feeling a difference in temperature at the place that your body meets another material? Now widen your attention to…