Holonomics

Business builds the systems of the world.

Can we learn to build them stronger? Holonomics helps business see further, and think deeper, to build systems for a stronger and more resilient future.

Vista de longe a gaivota segue seu voo. Tarde de inverno.

See the whole system

Holonomics works with business leaders who believe the systems of the world can be made stronger. And that the success of their business depends on building those systems.

The 20th century gave us high speed innovation in new technological systems. In just 70 years we went from the first manned aircraft, to a global network of jet air travel. From Alan Turing’s code breaking computer of 1945, to Windows 95, in only five decades. It took thirteen years and $2.7 billion to decode the human genome, three decades later you can learn the code of your life in two days for $200 dollars.

Business takes new technologies and builds them into new systems faster and more efficiently than anyone else. But what we built fast, we did not build strong.

At Holonomics we have dedicated decades of research and learning to understanding the systems of the world. In fact, on this matter, we wrote the book: Holonomics: Business Where People and Planet Matter. The practice of Holonomics challenges business to see further, and think deeper, to build systems for a stronger and more resilient future.

As we develop ever deeper understanding of the systems of the world, we learn that to build stronger systems, we must first learn to see the whole system.

The new opportunity

By the 1990’s the evidence of climate change was overwhelming. But many businesses ignored the science. Energy providers and car makers grew investments into fossil fuels. Now as we enter the 2020’s an estimated $2.2 trillion is locked in “stranded assets”, a loss that will be paid by investors and shareholders.

“Vast new opportunities await business that sees further, and thinks deeper, to build stronger systems.”

In just the first three months of 2020, the covid-19 virus, along with impacts from human activity across the world, have placed immense strain on our global economic system. The costs will be counted for a generation to come.

The system of air transport we built over seven decades was grounded in two weeks by a predictable pandemic.

The system of information technology we built in the 1990s is, in the 2020s, a broken maze of security flaws and data privacy invasions.

The system of genome testing we have today still has not delivered results, the genetic treatments promised remain always just a decade away.

What we built fast in the 20th century, we must rebuild strong in the 21st century. Vast new opportunities await business that sees further, and thinks deeper, to build stronger systems.

Business builds the systems of the world

New challenges, new systems

Holonomics works with business leaders who believe the systems of the world can be made stronger. And that the success of their business depends on building those systems.

The 20th century trained business to build fast. We looked for short term returns over long term gains. We learned to prioritise efficiency over resilience. We moved fast and we broke things.

Today the opportunity for business is to move deliberately and to build strong new systems for the world.

We understand the challenges you face, from winning over investor confidence, to retraining frontline workers. Our research and expert experience is here to help you realise your vision.

Strong new systems for the 21th century

Revolution, Automation and Artificial Intelligence

Automation and Artificial Intelligence will radically transform how products and services are created. The strong new systems built on AI will not eliminate human workers. Quite the opposite. The lesson of Alpha Zero victories in games like Chess and Go is that AI will empower new kinds of human work to match human creativity with machine learning.

Energy resources from fossil fuels will only get cheaper. But the unbounded potential of sustainable energy will make even that low cost expensive. Business has a unique opportunity to build new systems around the unlimited energy resources unlocked by the green revolution, to see further and think deeper into the post-scarcity future of energy.

Workplace revolutions driven by the internet will echo through society. Metropolitan cities may empty, as online workers choose richer lives in new communities. Freelancing and the new creative class will fundamentally change what we buy and why. It’s only by seeing the full reach of systematic change that brands can be built to meet new demand.

The 21st century is rich with opportunity for business with the vision to build strong new systems.

No vão trêmulo, olhos fixos. Desliza sob os pés. Alta velocidade.
A espuma branca, uma onda contra as pedras. Silêncio azul profundo.
Lá embaixo o rio mantém seu curso. Fim de tarde em Paris.

Helping business to see the whole system

The practice of Holonomics has grown from more than four decades of research into complex systems theory. We work at all levels, from C-suite strategy and decision making, to front line training.

Business choices are made from a vastly complex web of competing systems. Human emotion, social pressures, multiple data sources and business models, the drives and ambitions of the individual clashing with forces of history and progress.

Holonomics ethos, amidst such complexity, is elegant. We help business to see the whole system.

“In the 21st century, the decisions that are best for business are also the decisions that are best for the planet and its people.”

When we look further, and think deeper, to envision strong new systems for the world, we see that these systems are also those that best serve human life on our planet.

Holonomics believes that in the 21st century, the decisions that are best for business are also the decisions that are best for the planet and its people.

Every day we learn from leaders who are building strong new systems for human life on our planet. You are building a stronger world, and we are with you in that work.