Explor­ing hap­pi­ness, respon­si­bil­i­ty and sus­tain­able devel­op­ment

A jour­ney to lis­ten, learn and ques­tion our own think­ing

Thank you for join­ing our jour­ney.

We are trav­el­ling to Bhutan to lis­ten, learn and explore how the idea of Gross Nation­al Hap­pi­ness can broad­en our under­stand­ing of sus­tain­able devel­op­ment – and what it might teach us about the way we organ­ise, col­lab­o­rate and take respon­si­bil­i­ty.

We are not com­ing with answers. We are com­ing with ques­tions – and with a gen­uine curios­i­ty about what we might dis­cov­er when we look at some of our own assump­tions from a dif­fer­ent per­spec­tive.

If we met you along the way: thank you for shar­ing your time, thoughts and per­spec­tive with us.

Why Bhutan

Bhutan has cho­sen a remark­able per­spec­tive on devel­op­ment. With Gross Nation­al Hap­pi­ness, the coun­try asks a ques­tion that reach­es beyond eco­nom­ic growth: What enables peo­ple, com­mu­ni­ties and soci­ety to flour­ish – today and in the future?

This ques­tion res­onates strong­ly with our own work. In organ­i­sa­tions, too, we see the lim­its of approach­es that focus pri­mar­i­ly on growth, effi­cien­cy and mea­sur­able results. These things mat­ter – but they do not tell the whole sto­ry.

With Col­lab­o­rais­ing Organ­i­sa­tions®, we explore how organ­i­sa­tions can com­bine their eco­nom­ic pur­pose with mean­ing­ful con­tri­bu­tion, shared respon­si­bil­i­ty, human devel­op­ment and sus­tain­able impact. We are curi­ous to dis­cov­er where this think­ing con­nects with the prin­ci­ples and lived real­i­ty of Gross Nation­al Hap­pi­ness – and where it may chal­lenge our assump­tions.

That is why we are here: not to trans­fer a mod­el from Bhutan to organ­i­sa­tions, but to learn from a dif­fer­ent way of look­ing at what devel­op­ment and progress can mean.

Our learn­ing jour­ney

Over three weeks, we are trav­el­ling through Bhutan and meet­ing peo­ple with very dif­fer­ent per­spec­tives on Gross Nation­al Hap­pi­ness and the future of the coun­try.

Our con­ver­sa­tions will take us from research and edu­ca­tion to entre­pre­neur­ship, agri­cul­ture and monas­tic life. We will speak with peo­ple who study and shape the con­cept of Gross Nation­al Hap­pi­ness – and with peo­ple whose every­day lives offer a very dif­fer­ent per­spec­tive on what hap­pi­ness, respon­si­bil­i­ty and sus­tain­able devel­op­ment might mean.

We are inter­est­ed in the spaces between pol­i­cy and every­day life, between aspi­ra­tion and real­i­ty, and between Bhutanese per­spec­tives and our own ways of think­ing.

To wel­come us, Kar­ma intro­duces him­self as our guide for these three weeks, togeth­er with Samten, our dri­ver. Kar­ma imme­di­ate­ly begins talk­ing about Bud­dhism and about how we as human beings are con­nect­ed to one anoth­er across past and future lives. “So many guests arrive, and there are so many guides,” he says, “but some­how, it is the three of us who will be togeth­er for the next three weeks. We are fam­i­ly now.”