Richard Merrick

Working with spheres of influence. When the quiet before that shapes the events about to happen gives way to noise, it does so suddenly. All the things that we are now getting excited about seem obvious in retrospect. So why didn't we see them? There is nothing in

A Year of Intention. I have a sense that 2025 was only the warm-up act for 2026, and that this year we step into the main act, whether we are ready or not. America will have to get to grips with its Trump hangover and the discovery that after all

When we talk about the failure of organisations or societies, our language tends to be structural. We point to broken institutions, outdated business models, political polarisation and technological disruption. Our instinct is to pursue redesign: new strategies, new systems, new rules, new tools. I think this misses the deeper problem.

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”  E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful If we find ourselves lost, retracing our steps to where feels familiar is not retreating;

Working with the uncertain and sensing the emergent has always meant starting before we’re ready. It means experimenting, being prepared to be wrong, and change direction. It means, sometimes, being willing to look foolish. There is an essential difference between being foolish and being stupid. Stupidity is a kind