This is a recording of a talk I gave at Big Bear Retreat Centre, July 9 2025. The talk shifts focus from individual systems to the larger systemic pressures that create overwhelming stress in our lives. Introduced by Amrita Ahuja Groundwork CEO and founder, the conversation begins by acknowledging “the Impossible Task” —the reality that we are consistently asked to do more than is humanly possible, and that the resulting feeling of failure is not your fault. When Amrita passes me (Jenn McRae) the mic, I frame our current moment as a massive “historical transformation” , the “death rattle” of old systems that are no longer working. This forces a distinction between simple change and true transformation, which requires a breakdown of the old way of doing things as new ones are being built.

We talk about how these dying systems manifest as “urgency culture” within our organizations, creating environments where individual efforts to find peace and balance are often rejected by a “cultural immune system” set to crisis. The speakers explore how our individual autonomy eventually hits the limit of the system we’re in. The antidote proposed is a return to “relational practice” and a courageous willingness, especially from leadership, to “throw out the rule book” and create new, more humane ways of being and working together. This is a call to action to recognize the crisis, reject personal blame, and begin the work of birthing a new world.

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