Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement

2. The Lightning Bolt of Systems Thinking with Dame Polly Courtice

June 09, 2022 Wayne Visser Season 1 Episode 2
Thriving: The Breakthrough Movement
2. The Lightning Bolt of Systems Thinking with Dame Polly Courtice
Show Notes

My guest this week is Dame Polly Courtice, DBE, LVO, who is the Founder Director of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Listen to Polly talk about:
- How her roots in South Africa shaped her thinking on sustainability -- and how issues of social justice remain close to her heart
- What has changed in the sustainability movement over the past 30 years -- and what we have to urgently focus on today
- Why so few leaders really understand systems thinking -- and how the principles of thriving can be like a lightening bolt of new consciousness
- Why sustainability is necessary but not sufficient as an agenda for change -- and how young people are refusing to accept the future we are offering them
- How moments of personal and professional crisis can bring clarity to the necessity for hope -- and what gives her hope now

In the episode, the following books are mentioned:
- The Top 50 Sustainability Books, by CISL and Wayne Visser
- Holism and Evolution, by Jan Smuts
- A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future, by Sir David Attenborough

Key links:
Polly Courtice (LinkedIn)
Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (website)
To Lead (poem)
Thriving (book)
Wayne Visser (website)
Wayne Visser (LinkedIn)