A New Social Contract

A funny thing happened on the way to 2017.

2016.

Clearly, 2016 is in the pole position for the worst year ever.  From dying legends to dying democracies to the rise of fear-based populism and individual distrust.

But with my glass half full, I saw something else emerge. Like the proverbial weed in the rainforest, in the last half of the year, I saw something emerge that gives my old-ish bones hope.

One of the smartest and most creative people I know – Laura Haynes, the indomitable Chair of Appetite UK, called it the great “re-boot”.

I call it the new social contract.

Without going all social engineering on you (because there are some ‘nasty’ uses of this term in history), it simply is making explicit the way we want to treat and be treated by other human beings. Pushing all the noise away, the relationships that govern two people are the atomic structures of the compounds that make families, communities, countries and societies work.

The new social contract talks about things like giving trust before demanding it. It is grounded in a pay-it-forward thinking that plants acorns instead of cutting down trees; it speaks to diversity as the DNA of all things we do.

In short, in 2017 we need to re-build a culture of trust. And it starts with a new social contract. Look for it in a relationship, rainforest or company near you.  And it is the last part of Tip of the Spear.

Mark my words.

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