“Our inter-human nature - our commonality - interweaves us with community, but we are each existentially unique, one of a kind for this time only and no other.” Hycner/Jacobs: 1995.p120

Together everyone achieves more. You probably know a teamwork slogan like this. And it’s true. As a human race we have thrived because of community and our ability to work together. Increasingly, this can sometimes feel at odds with a (predominantly western world) paradigm of individual success. In this article I am going to talk about our individuality in the context of our communities and teams, and the wider world and explore how we really are better together. We are individuals, we are unique, and we meet the world in our uniqueness. At the same time, we live in an increasingly complex and nuanced world, where working together has never been more important. This is the only way I believe we will move forward on the biggest issues like climate change. As Mark Carney said in his 2020 Reith lecture “After all, climate change involves the entire world, from which no one will be able to self-isolate”.

How many times have you heard (or said) “people are complicated”. There is, indeed, nowt so funny as folk. To be better together, I am going to explore a part of the conundrum that I believe often gets missed; the part about teamwork, the part that isn’t me, and isn’t you, but how we are together. I believe the secret sauce to achieving transformation, change, different thinking, creativity, and momentum is how we pay attention to and navigate RELATIONSHIPS, and what goes on between us.

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This article was first published in the 2023 Best Practice Guide - Strength in Numbers: The Value of Community

To download a full digital copy of the Best Practice Guide, click here.