Why are we so busy?

Philosophy-ing on unquestioned assumptions and cultivating conditions for ‘good thinking’

In this week’s episode,

Jessica Böhme

and I explore what it means to cultivate favourable conditions for the process of philosophy-ing. Amidst a few wonderful interruptions from the young human whose early development I have the absolute pleasure of supporting (my daughter, Asta)—interruptions that thankfully help demonstrate the real-ness of the process Jes and I are engaged in—we also explore the notion of busy-ness, questioning its value as a hallmark of importance (both generally in ‘life’ and in the context of the organisational productivity obsession).

This episode was the second we recorded last week, and in some ways builds upon the first. We published this one first because my daughter’s face enters the frame in the other recording (we need to get rid of / blur it). For some this will not seem like an important point. But, I’m doing my best to keep her (especially any ‘profile’ of her) offline until she feels ready to make decisions about how she wants to actively participate in various sociotechnical ecosystems (that itself is a living, dialogical process that she and I are engaged in together). Because of my history studying these modern systems using wide boundary thinking, this feels like the best overall approach, one that aligns to my values and most respects her right to self-determine.

As always, this process of recording our philosophy-ing is living. Jes and I often start with a frame (a question), but then trust each other to explore with openness, curiosity and a desire to learn. We never know where we will end up, but always have fun along the way.

I hope you enjoy the conversation. And I trust it will spark something within you

P.S. Here are some of the questions we are exploring in this series:

• What do we actually mean by philosophy?

• What’s the value of philosophy in organisations?

• How is philosophy compared / contrasted (equivalency), relative to other organisational functions?

• How can philosophy help organisations interface with genuine uncertainty and complex challenges no organisation has ever faced?

• How can diverse ethical theories or lenses help inform decision making within organisations?

• How can philosophy help organisations more responsibly and effectively design, develop, and use AI (or not)?

• How can philosophy help us better understand the role of trust, and its importance, within organisations (and beyond)?

• Beyond profit, how can philosophy help an organisation define its telos? And how can defining this inform strategy and support culture?

• How can philosophy enhance an organisations’ capacity to identify and mitigate ‘consequential uncertainty’ (i.e. risk)?

• How can philosophy inform authentic progress in boardrooms (how they are comprised, how they collaborate, the ways in which they communicate etc.)?

• How can existentialist ideas about meaning, freedom and authenticity apply to ‘employee engagement’, motivation and combatting workplace alienation?

• How can a deeper understanding of epistemology improve an organisations approach to data and ‘evidence based’ decision making?

• How does one’s philosophy influence their leadership style, and how might this impact (or be impacted by) organisational culture?

• What philosophical questions should organisations be asking about the future of work and their role in ‘shaping it’?

• Plus so much more (ideally with your contribution, so please let us know what questions you’d like us to explore)