The Long Win in Society

Short-termism, binary ‘either-or’ thinking and an emphasis on simple metrics are holding us back across society. The political world elects leaders who are good at winning short-term campaigns but poor at long-term governing. ‘The Long Win’ offers a way for leaders in public life to reconsider what matters most and reconnect to their communities. The 3Cs of Clarity, Constant Learning and Connection offer a long-term people-focused framework within which to start to tackle complex, long-term issues collaboratively.

This page contains references, stories and some downloadable worksheets to help deepen your Long Win Thinking. They accompany the Stories of Long Winners in the new Chapter of the second edition of The Long Win.

Stories:

Jane Davidson

Jane Davidson is one of the 10 stories of Long Winners in the extra chapter of The Long Win second edition and an inspirational leader and former Minister in the Welsh Government. She was the main architect of the Future Generations (Wales) Act and you can read more about her in The Long Win and here: Jane Davidson on the Creation of The Well-Being of Future Generations Act in Wales — Jane Davidson

Jon Alexander

Jon Alexander and his work as Co-founder of the New Citizenship Project (NCP) (www.newcitizenship.org.uk) is one of the 10 stories of Long Winners featured in the new edition of The Long Win. He and colleagues at NCP do inspirational work to help others think long-term and collaboratively about key issues facing our communities. One example of their brilliant projects is the Future of Food: a ten month inquiry that brought together representatives of six organisations from across the food system to explore and experiment with a new way of thinking about the challenges facing the food system. You can read more about that report and the collaborative process and ‘citizen thinking’ behind it here: (usrfiles.com)

Metrics - Jerry Muller

Metrics is a topic that comes up time and time again. There’s no question our obsession with short-term, easily measurable KPIs has held us back across schools, healthcare, business and government. Rethinking what we measure and how we measure is a critical part of putting The Long Win into practice. Jerry Muller’s book The Tyranny of Metrics is a great place to start to expand your perspective on the damage done by narrow metrics across society: The Tyranny of Metrics | Princeton University Press

References & Long Win Thinking materials:

You can find out more about Jon Alexander’s brilliant book ‘Citizens’ here: CITIZENS | Jon Alexander

Donella Meadows was a brilliant thinker in the field of understanding the system change required to move away from ‘short win’ approaches towards greater long win thinking approaches in society. You can find out more about her, her books and articles here: The Donella Meadows Project and in particular about how to think about system change here in this essay Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System – The Donella Meadows Project and more broadly Systems Thinking Resources – The Donella Meadows Project

The Institute of Government’s report ‘Purpose in Power’ shows the need for significant change to the structures and working practices of government in order to enable government to better address the long-term cross-cutting issues that we face. More details here: Power with purpose: Final report of the Commission on the Centre of Government | Institute for Government

For long-term thinking, I’d recommend The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric, you can find out more about it here: The Good Ancestor – Roman Krznaric

The Long Time Project has lots of practical tools and resources to help us improve our long-term thinking

For all the scandals, a toxic culture in places like the CBI and the Met can be changed. Here’s how | Cath Bishop | The Guardian

Downloads: Long Win Worksheets

Long Win Thinking Reading List (PDF)]

Long Win Thinking Daily Reflection Questions (PDF)

Testimonials

‘Winning and losing are the simplistic ways that modern Western societies consider success. But Cath Bishop shows how much more complex the lived experience of competition really is. What a joy to read someone talking about this crucial subject from lived experience, showing how much more there is to understand about the way that we judge ourselves and everyone else. Anyone interested in motivation should read this book and think deeply.’

‘This book approaches the idea of success from a whole new angle, equipping us to think about what it would look like for all of us to win together in the long term, not just for me to beat you. It is a vital handbook for us as we face the challenges of our time, which will demand we work together as citizens, not simply to take what we can get as consumers.’

‘This is a deep and rewarding exploration of human motivation in sport, politics, business and our personal lives.'

‘Collaboration, not challenging, is a better way to live our lives. A self-help book that should be read by all.'

‘This book reminds us of the perils of chasing poorly defined notions of success – a revised edition could not be more timely or essential.'

‘The win-at-all-costs culture generates enormous amounts of human unhappiness and is counterproductive to the wellbeing of society as a whole, the “winners” as well as the “losers”. Cath has done a thorough job of marshalling evidence from a wide variety of sources, including her own experiences as an Olympian, and weaving it into an articulate and very readable narrative. Her vision for a more compassionate and collaborative world is a world I would want to live in.’

Contact Me

If you’d like to get in touch about working with me, either to discuss a ‘Long Win’ speech, workshop, book discussion or other Long Win Thinking collaboration, please let me know more.

The Long Win in Society

The Long Win in Society

Stories:

References & Long Win Thinking materials:

Downloads: Long Win Worksheets

See also:

The Long Win in Business

The Long Win in Sport

The Long Win in Education

Writing & Media

Testimonials

Contact Me