When you look around at the world, it’s easy to feel a bit like Morrissey in his new single ‘Spent the day in bed’ and hide from the headlines and reality.

It can feel like we’re going backwards in many ways… on human rights, conflict, waste, pollution, respect for others, climate change, intelligent debate, sustainability of resources…

The list is long.

But there’s great work being done

In recent conversations with people from a whole array of sectors, it’s clear that there is great work being done – within businesses and organisations, by groups and individuals – to drive change, some step-by-step, some with bigger leaps. It genuinely feels like there is a growing collective imperative to move to a better future, regardless of political will or vision.

I read two blog posts on Monday that demonstrate how the rapid change in two sectors – energy and automotive – is reaching a tipping point, having already achieved more than would have been thought possible just a few years ago.

Both are realistic in their approach that there is still much to do, but there’s a real belief that it can be done – through imagination, innovation and collaboration.

And that’s quite exciting.

It’s about opportunity and potential, not restriction or resignation.

The first is ‘A flexible future’, a post by Alex Haffner about the work National Grid is doing in collaboration with others on Future Energy Scenarios. It discusses how the energy system is becoming more dynamic, and how thinking and collaborative action is working towards a more flexible and balanced future.

The other ‘The yin and yang of electrification’, a blog from Ian Ellison at Jaguar Land Rover, celebrates how constraints can drive innovation and how progress towards electrification of vehicles doesn’t have to be dull or worthy, but can bring exciting new benefits.

These are big organisations going through major transformation. When you couple this with emerging businesses, with new ways of thinking, and a new energy to do things differently, it all adds up to a real reason to get out of bed and keep going.

Ian Dury got it right in Reasons to be cheerful. We should face the week with ‘A bit of grin and bear it, a bit of come and share it.’

— Tim Parr