A workshop help at RSA House, London on Wednesday 12th November 2025

I met Angela Monaghan at various events focused around sustainability in and around London. We both held similar values and got talking. With the opening gambit of ‘how do we closer to nature?’ to my very own quest to reveal the Truths: the Hidden Truths. After several chats, we morphed our thoughts into something that we couldn’t let rest. What Hidden Truths could nature reveal that drew parallels with our lives? I mean, we are nature ourselves, after all. Or, are we?

We wanted to set a series of mini exercises in the workshop, whose main objective was to get people talking. An open discussion was needed that was more akin to a brainstorming session than anything else. Together, we had an idea here and wanted to share it with others. Both of us turned to our black books and sent out personal invites. The invites went out to a carefully selected list of people. We wanted this pilot to be shared with those who shared similar values and that we could trust.

As humans, we all dream. We had dreams last night. We might not remember them, but they will have influenced us. It’s our active minds at work while we sleep.

We knew everything would be framed well with this quote from Albert Einstein: “Look deep into nature; and then you will understand everything better”.

We also explored a few themes, all of which were enriched by others:

Growth needs dormancy.

Nothing grows flat out. We all need space to breathe from time to time. To continue to develop and to grow, we need to go all out, but we also to stop, take stock and look at the bigger picture. Just as nature has its dormant periods, trees shed their leaves and slow down over winter, animals hibernate, we defy this cyclical pattern. Street lights, central heating, Black Friday… all designed to keep our minds alive and continue as if business is normal.

Just as a tree has its roots, what is happening underground is hidden from us. The roots are interlocked, there is mycelium weaving through the roots. The trees send signals to each other.

Strength Lies in Diversity.

Nature thrives through diversity. A jungle is rich with biodiversity. A forest of monoculture isn’t. A British hedgerow can be a wealth of biodiversity too. The polarisation that exists within our society can be so destructive. It’s only when we truly collaborate, our full potential can be exceeded. Undeniably, we are facing many crises through our failure to address the climate emergency. Now, with the clock at five past midnight, our best option is to unite together, across social divides, in order to act and create a better impact.

Hidden Networks Sustain Growth.

A few days ago I went on a fungi foray. It was close to rich woodland, but it was the open meadows that we explored. The fungi shows up for a day, maybe two, and then waits for the right conditions and location for this network of roots to push up another fungi. It’s all there and happening now. What about us? Don’t we create our own networks, aren’t we drawn to certain things we see?

Change is Constant.

Nature adapts and changes all the time. It’s how it thrives. It seems to go against human behaviour to embrace change. Just as nature can be highly responsive and adapt in order to thrive, we also need to adapt to survive. We’ll never get anywhere standing still.

Decay Feeds New Life.

I like this one, it shows us exactly why we so different. Nature works in cycles. Nothing is wasted. On a recent walk in some ancient woodland, I smelled a handful of leaves and the soil. It was unique. It was quite awesome. This decay smelled amazing! It was creating rich, fertile matter for the woodland floor. 

Collaboration outlasts competition.

The lone wolf doesn’t last long. In the wild, survival depends very much on cooperation. However, our society seems to encourage and glorify competition. Think GDP tables. As mentioned earlier, wouldn’t we all get so much further if we collaborate? In the northern hemisphere, our economic system is designed around competition. We have some tough challenges ahead of us if we need to move away from the competitive landscape.

Where we are different is we are detached from this circularity. Think of the landfill sites, the waste, the plastic that we create. The carbon we create. This is more than the trees could ever cope with. 

Nature can be brutal.

It’s always been the case and as we continue to see the impact that humanity is having on the climate, the brutal storms, fires and floods have all become the norm. The forces unleashed by nature are striking with impunity. It doesn’t discriminate and it’s all part of nature’s cycle. Sure, humanity can be brutal too, but it is always motivated. Calculated, even. 

It was after we reviewed these points, that a following theme, new theme was highlighted.

We are caught up in our world, as a society of consumers, somewhat detached from nature. In looking at how different nature is from us, it is helpful to understand nature’s Hidden Truths as well as our own. This provoked a lively discussion, in groups which led to further questions and some valuable insights.

What can we learn from other cultures? 

What would nature do?

Balance was a key theme. Nature is all about balance. The rhythmic cycle of the seasons, the interdependence that mycelium has with trees and the earth. 

If our lives had more balance, we’d be much better off. By that, I mean happier, in a better place. If your businesses had balance, time to breathe, opportunities to collaborate, an agile approach to adaption and closer ties to nature, wouldn’t that work better?

To conclude

We drew the workshop to a close by getting everyone to put notes on the ‘Wall of Truth’. This was a wall that was built up from everyone’s input on their ‘Hidden Truth’ note and their ‘Action’ note. It was clear that each person was inspired by nature.

This was a new way of looking at nature, your life and your business.

Because, after all we are nature.