2024. It’s been another big year with plenty of fun playing at the place where regenerative leadership, design, and innovation meets wellbeing and purpose.
I’m lucky to spend my time coaching and working alongside leaders to solve problems that matter for teams, customers, investors, and our planet – solutions that make money, do great things for people and our planet, and increase wellbeing.
Thanks to all the awesome clients, collaborators, program participants, and students I get to spend my time with. I love the work we do together. Thanks for inviting me in and trusting me to work alongside you and cheer you on.
While there are many things to celebrate, I also want to acknowledge that it’s been an extremely challenging year navigating a very tough market. It’s been full of uncertainty… and sadly several great organisations have made the painful decision to call time.
I’m not immune from that and I’m really hoping things pick up early 2025. Running Dynamic4 since 2001, I’ve been through many of these cycles… and while they’re not fun, we adapt and play on.
This time of year I take a break but I’m open for business if you’ve got something you want to get over the line to close out the year and make a fast start on 2025 😃
A time to relax in the sun, hang with my family, take photos, immerse in music, read, write, reflect on the year that’s been, and plan for the year ahead. I’m also synthesising the Leading Regenerative Change research I’ve been doing. Thanks to everyone who’s participated.
I hope you get a regenerative break… and look forward to an exciting 2025!
My 2024 headlines for everyone who asks what I actually do…
🎉 Dynamic4 turned 23… and I celebrated 30 years since co-founding my first startup at the age of 18. I’ve also been working in financial services for 31 years now. I think I’ll just call it 30+ years for both now until I clock up another decade.
📖 My book Solve Problems That Matter turned three and it’s reached people in 25+ countries. The book is supported by free worksheets, resources, and the social enterprise healthcheck. I love the photos I receive from readers showing their very well-used and marked up books.
💗 Worked with 50+ corporate senior leaders and three social enterprise/impact partners across seven countries on two project-based experiential leadership, design & innovation skilled volunteering programs that we lead with one of our global financial services clients. A long-running collaboration that I love!
🌱 Worked with 400+ UTS TD School Bachelor of Creative Intelligence & Innovation (BCII) and Diploma in Innovation students on their startup projects… focused on taking a human-centred design and living systems approach to innovation and entrepreneurship, regenerative business models with embedded impact, and happiness habits. Awesome to be part of the UTS Transdisciplinary School teaching team since 2019.
💬 100+ survey responses and interviews as part of the Leading Regenerative Change Research I’m doing. Synthesis and report in progress.
🎤 Organised/hosted/spoke at 30+ events and programs ranging from conferences, meetups, podcasts, webinars, and workshop facilitation.
💡 Spent 220+ hours coaching & advising and designing & delivering project-based experiential learning programs focused on building personal, team, and organisational capability to solve problems that matter through regenerative leadership, design, and innovation with a focus on wellbeing and purpose.
💕 Invested $50k+ helping build the purpose-driven and design ecosystems and supporting social enterprise ideas.
🌍 Offset 20% more than our calculated emissions (which we continually minimise). We’re proud to have been climate positive since 2010 – both Dynamic4 and household.
🤝 Sydney Design Thinking (SydDT) meetup is now a community of 9,700+ members – the biggest design thinking specific meetup globally (on meetup.com). We ran 16 in-person meetups, including our 100th meetup on our 9th birthday and four design megameetups as Design Connection with our friends from EUX and CCX.
A huge thanks to our SydDT community who make it so much fun, all of our speakers who share their valuable insights and experience, and to our collaborators ThinkPlace, Thoughtworks, Atlassian, Design at Macquarie Group, Design Outlook, Sh8peshifters, Leapfrog Studio, Food Agility, Enactus Australia, ABC, SXSW Sydney, Lanson Partners, The Growth Habit, and Dynamic4… and more thanks here.
🎶 15 gigs (Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Presets, The Chemical Brothers, Jungle, Air, Elefant Traks 25th Anniversary – The Finale, Underworld, Mos Def/Yasiin Bey Performs MF DOOM, Moonchild Sanelly, Rei, The Weeknd, Thom Yorke, Horrorshow, Crowded House, Katchafire)… and a shout out to my Sydney Gig Crew for the fun. Added 110+ album micro-reviews with my ongoing #MusicMeanderings project.
📸 1,000+ photos in my #PhotoMeanderings photo journal project.
In summary, it’s been a fun and full year. This might give you a clue why I tend to freeze when asked what I do and what I’m working on 😄. Plenty to celebrate… and of course, everything is a work in progress and an experiment.
Another massive thanks and hug to all of my family, friends, collaborators, and clients.
A special shout out to Dan Leverington – we teamed up at the Reignite: Impact Leader’s Retreat last year (thanks again Luke Faccini and Tom Allen!) as accountability buddies and have continued being a sounding board for each other since. I really enjoy our peer coaching calls and find them extremely valuable. Stoked to see the progress you’re making too mate 😃
What are your 2024 highlights?
Ready to have fun collaborating to solve problems that matter? Book a free 15-minute discovery call.
Bring on 2025!
Events
As I mentioned, I organised/hosted/spoke at 30+ events and programs in 2024. Here’s the list with links to some recordings…
- Feb-27 Mar. Coach for Remarkable Launcher
- 22 Feb 2022-18 Jun. Facilitator & coach for an annual project-based action learning leadership, design & innovation skilled volunteering program focused on female leaders across Asia with one of our global financial services clients and two social enterprise partners
- 15 Feb. Organiser & MC at SydDT #92: Immersion, Emotion & The Future of Design with Dr Kate Gwynne
- 21 Feb. Speaker – Regenerative Design & Innovation at Macquarie Design Guild
- 22 Feb. Organiser & MC at SydDT #93: Designing Resilient Business Models in a VUCA World with Michael Wilkens
- 23 Feb. Oraniser at Deep Dive Dinner with Strategyzer’s Michael Wilkens
- 27 Feb. Organiser at SydDT #94/Design Connection #1: The Intersection of Design, Digital & Public Media at the ABC
- 19-20 Mar. Facilitator of Beyond the Hype workshop at Sanitarium Leading Edge Conference experience with 130 leaders
- 28 Mar. Guest for StartSomeGood Good Hustle Live Q&A Session
- 21 Mar. Organiser at SydDT #96: SydDT & Design Outlook Community Drinks
- 3 Apr. Interviewed by Jacky Zhu from Western Sydney University MKTG 3005 Incubator 6: Funding & Startup
- 4 Apr. Organiser & MC at SydDT #97: Designer: Lost & Found with Nirish Shakya
- 5 Apr. Panellist for Social Impact Fellowship: What Are the Different Ways to Create Impact?
- 11 Apr. Community partner & table host for Design Outlook Design Leadership – Sydney 2024
- 16 Apr. Mentor at Founder Institute Mentor Progress Review
- 18 Apr. Table host Design Outlook Design Leadership – Melbourne 2024
- 14 May-5 Sep. Facilitator & coach for an annual project-based action learning leadership, design & innovation skilled volunteering program with one of our global financial services clients and one social enterprise partner
- 20 May. Interviewed for Social Entrepreneurship Research by Fangjie Wang from University of Warwick Business School
- 30 May. Organiser & MC at SydDT #99: Designing Tomorrow Book Launch with Martin Tomitsch & Steve Baty
- 13 Jun. Organiser & MC at SydDT #100: Delivering Inclusive Experiences in Public Services with Therese Konwerski & Keith Diamond
- 1-11 Jul. Facilitator & coach for UTS Diploma in Innovation: Innovation in Complex Systems
- 11 Jul. Facilitator & coach for UTS BCII: Speculative Startups
- 11 Jul. Organiser at SydDT #101: AI Needs Design, More Than Design Needs AI with Chris Rollings
- 6 Sep. Guest on I Invited You On Because… with Dean Lloyd podcast
- 12 Sep. Organiser & MC at SydDT #103/Design Connection #2: Operationalising Great Work Cultures with Dan Szuc
- 10 Oct. Organiser & MC at SydDT #104: Inclusive Design with Manisha Amin, Shaheen & Mariane Power
- 14 Oct. Organiser & speaker at SydDT #105: Meetup @ SXSW Sydney
- 16 Oct. Hype Man vox pop at SXSW Sydney with Dickie Currer
- 22 Oct. Grav.id Community Spotlight Series: Mission-Driven Innovation with Ben Pecotich on Spotify
- 6 Nov. Organiser & MC at SydDT #106/Design Connection #3: State of the Design Nation with Ben Crothers & Nila Rezaei
- 7 Nov. Table host at Leaders for Impact @ North Sydney
- 28 Nov. Organiser at SydDT #107/Design Connection #4: 2024 Reflection & Celebration
- 5 Dec. Facilitator & coach for UTS BCII: Initiatives & Entrepreneurship: People/Problem Canvas Workshop
- 6 Dec. Organiser of the annual Social Enterprise EOY Lunch Cruise
Curious? Stay updated…
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