Mark Laurence and I had a great discussion on AI and the future and A.icehouse, a new initiative for SMEs that he is working on with Icehouse, to learn more about the future of AI and what it might mean for companies and directors and business owners as well as charities and other organisations. Have a look at these links to find out more.

A.icehouse website: https://www.theicehouse.co.nz/a.icehouse

Ten Past Tomorrow site: https://www.tenpasttomorrow.com

Icehouse: https://www.theicehouse.co.nz

For more episodes visit www.theseeds.nz

More on A.icehouse:

"You don't need to master every new app, platform or update. You need practical and pragmatic AI knowledge that powers your business to navigate the evolution AI is asking of you.

AI is moving faster than leaders can follow. It can feel overwhelming, noisy, and hard to know what really matters.

A.icehouse is designed to give Kiwi SME owners and senior teams clarity, in practical and tangible ways. No hype. No waffle. We focus on AI literacy and skills first, then layer in the tools so you can build the confidence to make better informed decisions.

Back in 2000, Icehouse helped SMEs make sense of the internet and the knowledge era. Today, with applied AI expertise from Ten Past Tomorrow, we're helping businesses make sense of AI and the intelligence era.

In A.icehouse you'll find:

Plain-English explanations and demonstrations to build AI literacy around what AI is, what it isn't, and how it is reshaping business models and industries, right now. Practical AI skill training, so you yourselves become powerful users of frontier AI tools to drive radical and immediate efficiency and productivity in your own roles. Pragmatic strategies and maps so you can drive the same AI-powered efficiency and productivity as mentioned above, throughout your entire organisation Time-respectful sessions designed for busy leaders. Honest conversations about unknowns and trade-offs, not hype or silver bullets. A mix of formats, from quick webinars, online courses, to live in-person in-depth symposiums; so you can choose what fits your time and needs. A trusted partnership: Icehouse's 20+ years of SME support with Ten Past Tomorrow's applied AI excellence."

This is the audio of a talk I gave the other day to about 100 lawyers on principles and habits for life - it comes from content in the recent book: The Circle: Careers with Impact which is a download here https://theseeds.nz/articles/the-circle-careers-with-impact/

If it is of help, why not forward it on to someone else?

More content is at www.theseeds.nz

In this session I talked with Dr Brett Mann about conflict and how it influences board dynamics and he had a lot of wisdom to share on this fascinating topic. This is part of our ongoing commitment from Parry Field Lawyers to hosting important conversations that help you all. Forward on or tag someone in it may interest? Dr Brett Mann joined me in a conversation we need to have about conflict and board dynamics. Brett shared his perspective as an educator and communication skills trainer and draw on his experience with governance to explain connection points as we cover:

- Looking at conflict - what do we mean by that? - What do Chairs and all those on Boards need to consider when it comes to conflict? - What role does our personal history around past conflict play in this? - Is conflict 'bad' or can it help unlock new ways of thinking? - What are some 'Rules of engagement' to manage conflict? - How do you suggest we address three common, often unspoken, 'minor conflicts' to improve board dynamics?

Earlier seeds conversation with Brett on the impact of stress on our bodies: Dr Brett Mann on the impact of stress on our bodies, psychotherapy and 'somatisation' - Seeds

Recent book on Careers with Impact: https://theseeds.nz/articles/the-circle-careers-with-impact/

Biography of Dr Brett Mann Brett is a medical educator and recently finished forty years as a general practitioner. He had a central role in the design of the New Zealand general practitioner communication skills training programme. This included introducing training on 'dealing with conflict.' which, for the last eighteen years, has been an important part of the programme. He has given many seminars to doctors and provided many hours of one to one and group training in this area. Hat tip to Grant Adams for the suggestion.

The audio version of my recent book on careers, work, identity, purpose and impact.

You can download the book here https://theseeds.nz/articles/the-circle-careers-with-impact/

Contents

The Circle Introduction Part I: Our source of identity Part II: Misconception about work Part III: Purpose and your values Part IV: Why all this impacts you Part V: Developing seed habits Part VI: Creativity and vulnerability Part VII: What are you building? Part VIII: Closing the loop of the circle

More content at www.theseeds.nz

Tom Cooney is a visiting Erskine Fellow to the University of Canterbury and I was lucky enough to sit with him in person and hear about his life story and the work he does today helping marginalised groups (those with disabilities, refugees, former prisoners, asylum seekers etc) access entrepreneurship education.

But we start with his childhood, influences, parents, what he studied and how he came to be involved in this area - the format of seeds podcast is to really understand a life story not just a superficial "what is your job" question. If you want to hear more there are hundreds of conversations now at www.theseeds.nz

Tom provided the following links to things we discussed:

• Tom Cooney's website www.tomcooney.ie
• Self-employment for persons with disabilities https://www.tudublin.ie/explore/news/aib-and-tu-dublin-self-employment-for-persons-with-disabilities-programme-2025.html
• Centre for Entrepreneurial Behaviour Inclusion and Innovation (CEBII) https://researchprofiles.tudublin.ie/en/organisations/centre-for-entrepreneurial-behaviour-inclusion-and-innovation-ceb/persons/

More info on the podcast is at www.theseeds.nz

This is the audio of the paper released about the topic of Nature as Shareholder. You can access the paper at this link to download it: https://www.parryfield.com/impact-investing-information-hub/

Nature as Shareholder 🌱 Am releasing this paper today on a fascinating topic that I really enjoyed researching and writing over the last year (or two!). Feel free to post and/or leave a comment with your thoughts, or help spread word by tagging in someone it may interest?

This paper considers the challenges and opportunities of a reframing of paradigms to think about the role of nature as a shareholder of companies - both the current legal means for that, and implications.

⛰️ I will be hosting a free webinar on 18th August at noon to discuss the paper and you are welcome to join here https://events.humanitix.com/nature-as-shareholder-discussion-with-steven-moe

🌊 Thanks to those I spoke to in preparing this and provided feedback and also to the supporter organisations who are listed at the start and tagged below. Also to Lily Duval who provided the amazing watercolour illustrations throughout and elevates the content by those images - check out her book "Six-legged Ghosts: The Insects of Aotearoa".

🌳 I've timed the release for the Nature & Business Symposium put on by the inspiring team at Sustainable Business Network which I am at today - thank you Manu Caddie who is speaking there for your support of this project and case study you provided.

Andrew is the CEO of the NZGBC and in this episode we hear about the work they do as well as find out more about his life story. I learned a lot about the way that homes are measured through the Homestar rating and the important work that the New Zealand Green Building Council - and its 700 members - are doing in this area.

NZGBC Website is here

Andrew also shared this

Real-world success stories: Explore how other developers are leveraging Homestar to deliver high-performance homes: Homestar Case Studies Design support: The Homestar Design Guide offers practical strategies for achieving certification, including moisture control, thermal envelope design, and energy efficiency. The financial upsides of energy efficiency healthy homes A recent Infometrics report shows that homes built to 6 Homestar can save homeowners over $62,000 - $99,000 in electricity and mortgage interest. These savings are driven by lower energy bills and access to discounted mortgage that ANZ's Healthy Home Loan provides. Developers or builders can save hundreds of thousands of dollars. The following banks provide significantly lower interest development finance for Homestar homes; ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank and Westpac

The Circle: Careers With Impact book is here https://theseeds.nz/articles/the-circle-careers-with-impact/

For more episodes visit www.theseeds.nz

Karim Sabet has led an interesting life having been born in Africa, raised in Japan and Egypt but also having lived in Malaysia and now is settled with his young family in Selwyn, New Zealand. We talk about that international background and what it was like to grow up between cultures – being from somewhere but never having lived there as a child. We also discuss his career and the work he has done as an entrepreneur as well as his current roles and plans for the future. I really enjoyed getting to know Karim and hearing more of his background and life story and having interesting conversations and curiosity led discussions – the essence of what seeds podcast is about. If you enjoyed this then you might like to check out some of the other episodes in the back catalogue as there are now more than 450 of those at www.theseeds.nz

I was interviewed by by Seán Barnes for his Impact Professional Podcast and this is the result!

FInd out more about his work over here and you can also subscribe to his show https://www.impactprofessional.nz

My latest book is out now - The Circle: Careers with Impact, and it is over here https://theseeds.nz/articles/the-circle-careers-with-impact/

More content at www.theseeds.nz

In this session I got insights from Shamubeel Eaqub the Chief Economist at Simplicity on a huge variety of topics - the economy, mountains, measuring value, wars, the working poor, superannuation, public forums for discussion, social cohesion, butter prices - we covered a lot! Who might you tag in or share this with? I also describe my new book The Circle: Careers with Impact which is a free download available now!

The Economy Made Simple, podcast with Shamubeel Eaqub here Podcast - Money Made Simple | Simplicity

Charities Information Hub Charities in New Zealand | Parry Field Lawyers

Careers with Impact page and download of new book The Circle: Careers with Impact - Seeds

Charities and Tax paper PARRY-FIELD-Charities-and-Tax.pdf

About Money Sweetspot mentioned in this About Us | Debt Consolidation Lenders | Money Sweetspot

IOD article on Orders of Consciousness Governance and orders of consciousness: a different leadership lens | IoD NZ

For more content visit www.theseeds.nz