Hi readers. You may be wondering where things went (or where I went). It’s all a story of change and innovation — something at the heart of this newsletter. Yet, this is not the time or place for that story. (It’s not that exciting)
Instead, I’d like to reflect on how we’ve arrived at this point and the journey from where we were when I last posted in Censemaking. In 2023, after spending years publishing this newsletter (including porting it to Substack), I paused due to the changes mentioned above, which I’d hoped to chronicle here, but was unable to do so.
But as the pause came, so did many changes to the world around us. It was — and is — hard to get our bearings. The shock, numbness, and confusion some call hypernormalization have set in for some of us. Complexity is overwhelming our senses.
This newsletter was founded on the idea of informing people about complexity, systems thinking, psychology, evaluation and design — essentially the foundations of strategic design.
Now, the time has come to return. It’s time to restart.
Tales of Complexity
Since the last issue in 2023, much has changed, and that’s inspired this restart. We’ve seen generative AI go from a fringe tool to the forefront of publishing, audio and video production, scientific research, and more. Alongside this, new tools are being developed that make it easier for people to engage with content. Substack has introduced ways to bring video, audio and chats to the platform, which were either unavailable or nascent when this newsletter was last published.
Add to all of this the enormous geopolitical complexity we continue to face. Whether it’s the collapse of the existing global order with the United States at the centre, or the economic, political, and health consequences tied to resource shifts. We are witnessing a resurgence of diseases like measles in areas where it was once eliminated. Wildfires now threaten entire states or provinces in the summer months, while floods drown others during rainy seasons, which are both getting more prolonged and more intense.
You all know this.
These are just some examples of rising complexity and concern. Just as we did when the global COVID-19 pandemic was first declared, the world is wondering what is going on and how to respond. Unlike then, much of what we face is even more complex as it has no clear pathway forward.
Yet, we humans like pathways.
Pathways and Complexity: The New (Old) Censemaking
This restart is dedicated to that project: creating, finding, or illuminating pathways through complexity, by design.
In the coming weeks and months, I invite you to watch for a new look to this newsletter. The shape will be more in-tuned toward teaching, learning, and skill-building for complexity. It will also leverage Substack's various media-handling features.
I will continue to share content from the Censemaking website, while entirely new content, resources, and opportunities to view this as a platform for learning, not just a newsletter. It’s staying true to the original vision I had when I launched the Cense Academy in 2020.
I hope you enjoy these changes. Thank you for subscribing, reading, engaging, and learning along with me. Stay tuned.
Photo by Eilis Garvey on Unsplash, Jon Tyson on Unsplash, and Lili Popper on Unsplash