Have you ever realised how powerful our eyes are? (Yes, the ones that have been reading this very sentence.)
Whether we enter a dark room or step out to enjoy the sunlight, our eyes automatically adjust and adapt depending on the amount of light in the room or the lack of it because, well…a change in our environment happened. Just like we did when the pandemic happened.
While the future remains uncertain and fear is still present, 2021 allowed us to adjust, refocus, and be braver in our decisions to create a better future for our people, clients, planet, and communities.
As Aurecon CEO William ‘Bill’ Cox said in his blog at the beginning of the year: “Courage is what allows us to transform fear into action and ultimately, continue to create and innovate in the face of fear or adversity.”
So, as we close another year, let us revisit and reflect on some of the most important lessons that we learned from our most popular Just Imagine blogs this 2021 (We know COVID fatigue is real so we promise these are non-COVID related 😉):
1. Will the 5th Industrial Revolution be the next Renaissance?
The 5th Industrial Revolution (5IR) is where humanism, civility, inclusivity, creativity and purpose will thrive alongside profit and digitally-enabled progress.
The choice is not whether to focus on profit or purpose or people, the answer is all three. Read more.
2. If you want a resilient workplace – make it a neuro-inclusive one
While we are seeing a great deal of progress on diversity and inclusion, neurodivergent people are often overlooked.
“Neurodivergent people do not suffer from disability, they suffer from difficulties created by a society that fails to accommodate cognitive differences.” – Steve Silberman in NeuroTribes Read more.
3. Why you should choose HARD goals instead of SMART ones
Employees are likely to love their jobs and feel motivated to accomplish them if they set HARD (Heartfelt, Animated, Required and Difficult) goals instead of SMART ones, because they have far more emotional connections to these aspirations.
People tend to be braver in achieving their goals when they care about them. Read more.
4. Five ways to design better cities for kids
If we design our cities as places for children to express their curiosity, creativity and imagination, they may grow up exploring different possibilities for the future with playfulness because that's what our cities will have taught them.
Just imagine. Read more.
5. The cost of everything – the value of nothing
To preserve our natural ecosystems, we need to value what we might lose, while also looking for unconventional ways to recognise the value and benefits from healthy natural systems.
When you have a common good with few controls – like the ocean – no one will value the health of the ocean. Read more.
Five new important lessons to wrap up our 5th year (and counting) – the Just Imagine team has nothing but unquantifiable gratitude. Thank you to our readers and subscribers for continuing to join us in our journey to 'just imagine'.
Just Imagine will be taking a break for the holidays and will be back on January 2022. Have a safe and restful holiday season!
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