Norway

The train ride from Bergen to Oslo is one of the most beautiful journeys, rising up from the fjords, through the snowbound mountain plateaus, and eventually down to run parallel with the rivers, swollen with snowmelt, bursting their banks in the Spring.

Every step of that journey is hard won, as you pass through tunnel after tunnel, some seven kilometres long, and at times find the line clinging to the mountainside.

Periodically we would slow to a stop, a weatherboarded orange station building looming up next to us, and a small cluster of houses. I found myself wondering how on earth people find a living up here (although the almost constant availability of a 5G mobile signal and fast wifi makes me think that the range of options for work has probably significantly expanded.

Along every stretch of river or around the edges of the lakes you will find the ubiquitous summer houses, all painted in that Norwegian red. Some clearly upgraded to the highest standards of modern living, and others collapsing into ruin. In a few places simply a fireplace left standing, in a heap of stones. But in general, this is a lived in and dramatic landscape. Whilst the total Norwegian population is small, it is most certainly spread out.

I came here, to Gol, for a conference, to share some of my latest work on collective capability and Social Learning. It’s an event i’ve been to a number of times, so there were many familiar faces, as well as friends flying in from around the world. Just a couple of hundred people, but people with connection and expertise. As i said in my session, it was a welcome opportunity to be within a community of experts.

That word, ‘community’ has travelled with me all through this week: the communities clustered around the railway, the communities in the mountains, the community coming together for the conference, and the communities we consider when looking at the Social Organisation.

In the work on ‘Social Leadership: My 1st 100 Days’ i described how we are effective ‘within the arms of our community’, and this is certainly the case.

In my session this week i described how our ‘sociability’ is not simply nice, but rather it’s a core feature of our ability to survive: if i go to collect firewood, i trust that you are building the shelter. This reciprocal trust has evolved into our notion of community.

I often say that it’s worth remembering that this is what is ‘really real’. People, and the ways that they are together. Our Organisations and other structural aspects of society, our artefacts and rules, these are all made up. But our social nature (both in terms of the benefits of our ‘togetherness’, but also the division of our ‘otherness’) is the underlying foundation of everything.

Quiet Leadership

I have two new cohorts setting out to explore the landscape of Quiet Leadership in June. You can find more details and sign up to this four week, open and free journey, here. Everyone is welcome in this space.

Generative AI Book

I was fortunate in that Sae was also at the conference this week, and we managed to spend time across all three days exploring and developing out the Generative AI work. We expect to be publishing this work late in June. Watch this space…

With best wishes

Julian