Alan Heeks In systems design, a key way to create resilience is via duplication or even redundancy: for any crucial component, there is a counterpart which can hum into action if the main one fails. This principle is important in sustainability too: organic farms have several kinds of crops, and livestock, which mean that if one fails, … Read more
I have learned from nomads as a role model for modern-day resilience for many years, drawing mainly on my experience leading twelve groups with Bedouin in the Tunisian Sahara. Kate Humble’s recent BBC2 series on nomads offers vivid insights from across the world, and I enjoyed her programme on nomads in the Gobi desert, Mongolia. … Read more
The value of resilience, and purposeful instability… The focus of this well-written book is creating successful, innovative organisations, and the personal skills to enable this. The authors are co-founders of Relume, a small team who have helped top businesses for many years. Claire Genkai Breeze draws heavily on her Zen Buddhist training in her approach. … Read more
Men generally grow up seeing other men as competitors, and mostly have poorer support networks and interactive skills than women. Perhaps that was useful when fighting for the last bison on the plains, but it doesn’t help most men in 2015. These days, most of us need high emotional intelligence and collaboration skills just to … Read more
If you do a web search for books on personal resilience, this one comes up as well rated. It is a clear, common-sense self-help guide to the basics of the topic.
The book is easy to use, with a mix of checklists, exercises, anecdotes, and resources guides at the back. It handles such issues as dealing with strong emotions in a sensible style which avoids New Age jargon.
Don’t Even Think About It: why our brains are wired to ignore climate change. This book is an eloquent explanation of the issue in the title: well-researched, and refreshingly written. It is serious, but not a depressing lecture: the book is entertaining and engaging, partly through its use of stories and interviews as a way of getting past our hard-wired resistance. The table below gives a summary of the major issues covered in the book, and Marshall’s suggested antidotes.
Rosemary Randall is a psychotherapist and group facilitator who has been involved in the environmental movement for many years. She writes and lectures widely on the psychological aspects of climate change. Andy Brown is an engineer with a background in the social sciences. He works in research for the built environment and has been a … Read more
When I saw that a conversation with James Lovelock was part of the recent Bridport Literary Festival, I could hardly believe it. Firstly, he’s internationally renowned, secondly he’s 91: surely not in our small market town?? Seeing him in person was invaluable, because he’s hard to categorise. James describes himself as an inventor, not a … Read more
There’s so much talk about resilience these days, but little of it explores spiritual sources. My focus is resilience in everyday life: how we can stay steady, and grow through daily stress and bigger crises. There’s plenty of research to show that people who feel a higher sense of purpose, who have a spiritual path, … Read more
Although I’ve led many groups and retreats, a recent weekend was one of the edgiest: on the theme Exploring the Soul’s Journey. My co-leader Cordelia and I both felt nervous about helping people to contact their souls for guidance about good living, good dying, and what my lie beyond. Our weekend at The Abbey, near … Read more