5 Big Questions: NEIL GIBB

How do we accept that change takes time?

Can small systems changes have any impact?

What does mass digitisation mean for society?

In this week's 5 Big Questions interview we talk to author, strategist and social entrepreneur NEIL GIBB.

Known for:

• Author - The Participation Revolution
• Co-founder - Where to from here
• Founder - Participation Nation
• Founder - The South Lanes Project
• Founder - 21st Century Leadership Project

The Big 5 Questions:

1. How do you measure the impact of what you do?
2. How should people/businesses be preparing for the future?
3. How do we build the workforce we need for that future?
4. How do you use creativity to solve problems?
5. How do you collaborate?

Key quotes:

"The problem with words is, they've all been in someone else's mouth." — Dennis Potter.

"A lot of people have become disillusioned with the consequences of technology. It's difficult to remember that once upon a time Google's slogan was 'do no evil' and everyone thought they were wonderful and now it's like, oh my god are they the new Big Brother? That's the challenge."

"Sometimes we feel like we have to be almost like Jesus Christ to make a difference, whereas actually if everybody mobilised and did something small and impactful where they are, that would have a huge roll up. You feel empowered." 

"Organisations deep down are there to deliver on their business model. So it's always a productivity conversation."

"A lot of people are dealing with important but secondary issues, when they're looking at engagement, around employee wellbeing, things like meditation, all stuff like that, really important things, but they are secondary. Engagement really is about how you engage people in the business of the business."

"What digital technology has done is connect everyone up, and what it's also done is create a distance between people."

"One of my concerns about the word 'culture' is how it's been co-opted by the high arts. In Bradford a lot of the culture is about rugby league and South Asian cuisine, it isn't about theatre."

"The root of the word 'home' isn't 'house', it's 'village'. It was in the old English word 'ham', and when there wasn't a big society, the village was the place you felt safe. We need to have communities that we feel held in. And that's at odds with individualism."

Useful links:

• Neil Gibb on LinkedIn
• Neil Gibb - The Participation Revolution (Hive link) / (Amazon link)
• Neil Gibb bio at Shape-Education
• Neil Gibb at publisher Eye Books
• Dennis Potter (Wikipedia)
• Bradford City Of Culture 2025
• Carlos Tevez (Wikipedia)
• Dan Pink
• The Beatles: Get Back (Wikipedia) / (Disney+)
• Sapiens International Corporation (Wikipedia)
• Agile At Scale (via Harvard Business Review)
• Fillets Fish and Chips

This episode was recorded in September 2022

Interviewer: Richard Freeman for always possible

Editor: CJ Thorpe-Tracey for Lo Fi Arts