Exploring Spaciousness: A Journey Beyond Busyness

In our recent pop-up event, Megan and John shared their research on spaciousness in organisations. Their work, built on over 50 hours of group conversations and 40 interviews, focuses on how we experience and create space in our lives. You can see the full research report here.

Megan’s invited participants to explore their own understanding of spaciousness through reflection – considering their mental states, emotions, and physical sensations. This personal exploration revealed that spaciousness isn’t just about time management; it’s about the quality of our attention.

John expanded on this by describing spaciousness as “expansive, unhurried attention” – a state that moves beyond narrow focus to embrace interconnectedness and freedom from expectations.

Their research unveiled multiple dimensions of spaciousness – physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual. The SPACE framework they introduced (Safety, People, Attention, Conflict, and Environment) offers practical ways to help create spaciousness in workplace settings.

They also challenged the cult of busyness by proposing a balance between “doing mode” and “spacious mode” – suggesting that true flourishing comes from integrating both. Their insights on power dynamics and attention in organisations highlighted how leaders significantly influence the way people interact and pay attention within their organisations.

This session was an invitation to rethink how we can create and maintain space for genuine connection and creativity in our professional lives.

You can view the recording here: