In September, the Tällberg Foundation concluded the learning project “Whence & Whither – Into uncharted waters”. Over 12 months, through ten workshops, a learning journey, two hearings and numerous meetings and readings, the conversations have covered philosophy, strategy, economics, energy, natural resources, theology, cultures and values, interconnectedness and systems thinking, earth systems science and technology.
The Tällberg Foundation project team, which comprised Alexander Crawford, Bo Ekman and Rebecca Oliver, has now produced a final report synthesizing the learnings from this year of conversation and insights. The findings are presented as reflections on how to understand the present and how to approach the future. There are six “keys to understanding why we are where we are” that answer the question “Whence?”, and five questions about our future that ask “Whither?”. These questions are intended to feed thinking about strategy and change and support the ongoing conversation about the issues that are shaping our time. Finally, the combined findings demand that we rethink how we think about the future, recognizing that we have mostly been wrong and that our linear plans and strategies are not helping us prepare for the un-forecastable.
The Whence & Whither findings have deepened the insight that, in managing our human affairs – local, national and global – we struggle to lift our individual and collective gaze from the details of what we are learning and doing. This has meant that we have too often missed the wider view of the interconnections and interdependencies – the systems dynamics – of our reality. Too little attention has been given to signs that global natural systems are being destabilized by human activities and inequalities in society are widening, creating new risks for widespread destabilization.
Because these signals have been missed, no global mechanisms for addressing global problems have been developed to prioritize the stability and function of the wider systems over the parts. Special interests (often individual, corporate or national economic interest) have dominated decision making. Today, we face global problems but lack global problem-solving mechanisms; our structures of governance and management of global systems are entirely mismatched to the economic, social and environmental challenges that define our age.
In this context, we now see a wave of change emerging across the planet in response to rising awareness of multiple economic/financial, natural and social crises. The report identifies, and helps to structure, the key areas where new thinking is needed. It defines the questions that must be asked to orient progress in addressing global challenges. In this way, the Whence & Whither project helps define the unique characteristics of our time – an era of high-speed global change with complex social and environment interconnections and interdependencies.
In this time of rapid change – of flux – the standard models of planning and strategy lack the necessary depth. The Whence & Whither report highlights the need for new mechanisms to complement linear reductionist thinking and practice with system-based understanding and practice. This need is most visible and urgent in the realization that our use of resources is not consistent with a reality of scarcity and fragile ecosystems. Also, the theory and practice of economics dominates our affairs at all levels, despite the serious flaws and lack of legitimacy of this discipline. In reality, there is little knowledge of how to make the practice of economics promote long term stability and well-being for either the poorest in society or for the ecosystems on which we depend, for example, climate or the oceans. Global decision-makers at all levels must move away from the mistaken belief that the enlightened self-interest of each actor - consumers, voters, companies, nations, etc. – can, together, create a functioning whole. Rather, it is time for a global conversation about integrity, values and new narratives about the future that engages the citizens and next generations in acting beyond self-interest and with a wider sense of solidarity. The Tällberg Foundation will continue with this learning process in the search for a better practical knowledge about the present – and thus prepare for the many futures that can and will emerge from the decisions that we make today.
For more information, please contact
Rebecca Oliver or
Alexander Crawford.
List of workshops 