Want to come for a walk?

I've taken recently to inviting people to walk and talk, outdoors, for meetings. I love it.

Being outside changes the energy, it brings more personal connection to the conversation somehow, and we're getting all that natural light.

My next step is to figure out how to do ‘bigger’ conversations outdoors - how do I, as a lover of the post-it and blu-tacking things to walls(!), run an outdoor idea session without the wind stealing our work for example 😊

I think working in this way generates more varied ideas, and leaves us all feeling energized rather than exhausted at the end.

There's a huge link between people's nervous system needs to feel safe, and our ability to play, to let go, and be creative. When we feel unsafe or judged, we're highly unlikely to bring our biggest, scariest ideas to the table. Instead they die quietly inside us. Being outdoors seems to open us up, bringing more fun, less judgement to the conversation.

Being outside, in particular out in nature, has been proven to nurture our creativity. It restores attention and enhances our mood, by providing fresh ‘soft' stimulation, decreasing stress, and as a result supporting the wandering of our minds.

I was introduced to the concept of walking outdoors and talking 10 years ago on a week-long course (I'd go so far as to call it a retreat) with Chris Barez Brown and Jim Lusty - the team behind Upping Your Elvis, and the whole experience was genuinely career changing.

A second life changing retreat was with the Purpose Disruptor team where we gathered to discuss purpose-led leadership in the climate crisis, with much of our time together spent outdoors. Thanks to Jonathan Wise, Ella Saltmarshe and Emma Ashru Jones for curating.

More recently I've spent time with a peer learning group once a quarter to review how we create a positive impact in the ad industry around climate, and we tend to meet in places where we can see nature - I'd highly recommend Skip Garden or Calthorpe Community Garden if you want to hire a nature-based space in London.

I hope this post inspires you to take a walk outside, and if you find somewhere lovely, please share in the comments!