Summary

"Making Good Happen" is my "nutcracker" book, because it not only sums up my previous seven books, but also cracks some of the hardest "nuts" (or "wicked problems", as the cognoscenti like to call them), that we face in the this century as a species, in a small package.

"Making Good Happen" is my "nutcracker" book, because it not only sums up my previous seven books, but also cracks some of the hardest "nuts" (or "wicked problems", as the cognoscenti like to call them), that we face in the this century as a species, in a small package. In particular, readers of my last two books "A Leader's Guide to ThriveAbility" and "Synergise!" have asked for an accessible "layman's guide" they can share with friends, family and colleagues. Well. Here it is!Making Good Happen is ultimately not just a technical problem to be solved, but an intensely personal journey that will help you become a better person. The desire to create a better world for our children and their children and everyone else's children is strong in many hundreds of millions of people around the world. This good energy is helping each of us connect up with others who are making a difference and making a living by making a difference. It also helps us clarify our priorities: what kind of a legacy I am leaving in this world?Whatever you do in your life and work, and wherever you live and however you make a difference, what lies inside this books pages is a universal toolkit that you can use on your journey into a flourishing future. Use this as an antidote to all the bad news you hear every day, and remember that every single one of us on this planet can make a difference doing whatever we do, wherever we are, right now. Each one of us is a leader and creator in one way or another. You will have particular strengths, assets and experience that others can look up to and learn from. Equally, there are those in your family, community, city, organization and networks whom you can learn from and be inspired by too. So the most logical place to begin this journey is inside yourself, and together with the others that can be mutually supportive on that journey.Knowing where you and others are at when you begin your journey to good, offers valuable insights into the nature of the transition you are about to take, and what specifically will motivate others to want to support and join you on the journey. When we suggest that we can and should "Redefine the Good Life" and "Redesign the Good Life", it is in a spirit of global fusion and diversity that can make life a much richer experience by doing things in new, more thriveable, often simpler ways, rather than in the old ways which often negatively impact our environment and our societies, not to mention our taste buds and health.Six Pathways to a Thriving Future show the way: 1. Values and Visions. 2. Human Development. 3. Thriveable Economies. 4. A Flourishing Biosphere. 5. Resilient Habitats. 6. Circular Manufacturing and Mobility, in an easy to understand way.The Six Capabilities unfold logically, starting with our ability to SEE (beyond horizons 1 and 2), to be able to FEEL (embodying our impulses toward goodness), to TOUCH (resonating and connecting with others and inspiring them to join us on the journey), to MEASURE (articulating more precisely how much goodness we are bringing into the world), to REINVENT (designing and delivering the initiatives and breakthroughs that bring this goodness alive) and SCALE (learning form what worked well and translating that into other contexts to produce more of the same outcomes).In order to move beyond incremental to synergistic and systemic innovation in most of our large organisations, cities and socio-economic systems, we need a better map and operating system for transformation. Making Good Happen provides you with both in an easy to read, practical way with exercises to test your knowledge and help you on your way.This short yet powerful book is designed to help you put into practice the approaches and tools that help make good happen within the pathways to a thriving future for us all: six pathways and six capabilities that you will need to make good happen, and begin your journey to good now.