Our principles
Because the best standards and guidelines are the ones we set for ourselves and hold each other accountable for.
We are human.
We believe that conventional work culture needs urgent reinventing. At SSL, we show up with as much of our authentic selves as we’re able to, we take care of each other as best we can, we work at ‘the pace of trust’, we celebrate ‘flow’, and we make the space and time we all need to enjoy our lives outside of work to the fullest.
We are nature.
We know humans are part of nature, not above it. Drawing on biomimicry, and paying close attention to its emergent properties, cycles, and interdependencies, we know that we can learn from nature not only about our inner selves and our social dynamics, but about how best to nurture the conditions for all life on Earth to thrive.
We are hopeful.
We see infinite possibilities for our collective future, and trust in our potential as a civilisation and as a species to meet the challenges of the century with the imagination, resolve, and tenacity they require of us. In a world with so many reasons for cynicism and despair, we see the power of compelling new narratives and visions of the future to cultivate this hope in others.
We are innovators.
We work in uncharted territory, so our design projects are deliberately playful, inquisitive, and experimentalist. Our focus is not on the static conception of a final service or product, but on iterative sensemaking, perpetual prototyping, and the dissemination of the insights we pick up along the way.
We are swarmers.
We systematically observe the states and flows of a vast diversity of existing initiatives, networks, and movements, to orient ourselves as discerningly as possible in their midst. We are constantly expanding and deepening collaborative relationships with peers far and wide, weaving, synergising and adapting as we go. What matters most is not our isolated impact, but our contribution to a much broader movement.
We are pluralists.
Each of us contains complexities, nuances, and paradoxes, and our society is rich with diverse ways of seeing and acting in the world. We believe there is no single right way to go about transformation, but that dialogue and pluralism are vital. We don’t let ideologies, methods, and sectors separate us, or get in the way of the contributions we exist to offer.
We are playful.
The child is the master innovator. The perceiver of the unseen. The colorer outside the lines. The thinker who does not yet understand the boundaries of the box.
Play is the way. If it is not fun and flowing, it is probably not aligned with our nature as humans. And if it does not align with our nature, it will not last.
Nature explores and experiments, seeking to fill every void with a new version of itself. So must our social systems also behave, always seeking out the new opportunity to evolve, to discover something we could not have imagined.
Do these principles resonate? Come add your frequency to our choir!
We are always keen to explore new ideas and potential opportunities to create together.