Proximate Circles is a way of living and working focused on improving lives through cohesive, virtuous innovation and sustainable development.
Proximate Circles operates at the heart of development innovation. We are committed to leveraging the power of purposeful proximity and the connective creativity of circle thinking to foster growth and improvement in people’s lives.
Life is essentially a navigation of a series of interconnected Proximate Circles.
Our closeness to one another can either provoke crisis or inspire cohesion. Our ability to find commonality across differences and collaboration through difficulties defines whether our circles become vicious or virtuous.
We work to inspire cohesive, virtuous Proximate Circles.
Our lives are interconnected and interdependent. Our proximity can either mobilize our power or multiply our problems.
Human challenges can be reaching, recurrent, and reinforcing. We need holistic, iterative, and inclusive solutions to solve them.
There are no silver bullets. In a rapidly changing world, our power lies in not one, but a constellation of synergistic solutions.
Proximate Circles is boldly taking some of the most pressing challenges of our time. We have come to understand that at the heart of every broken relationship, troubled community, underperforming organization, failed institution, and inequitable society is the inability of people to coexist.
We therefore use a simple framework to help us understand: (i) what challenges exist and why; (ii) what factors mitigate or exacerbate them; (iii) what solutions can fix them; and (iv) which people and what expertise to engage.
Complex problems arise when diverse people with different views on fundamental truths navigate a world of scarce resources.
Change can be fueled or frustrated by convergent and divergent forces. We must know when to rally or resist these dynamics.
Changemakers grasp opportunities and overcome obstacles, by responding appropriately to context and circumstance.
The people closest to the problem are usually closest to the answers. But they need agency to act in ways that lead to good solutions.
The Proximate Circles Universe is a constellation of platforms solutions, and services. We are designing them to inspire more collaborative and integrative approaches to positive social innovation and sustainable development.
Looking for more cohesive, virtuous Proximate Circles in your life, work, organizations, communities, institutions, and societies? We can help. Find out how.
