These meeting notebooks create a link between the projects we run and the people who bring them to life, contribute to them, and inspire us. It's a way of getting to know the people we work alongside, of better understanding their stories, motivations, quotes, faces... And for this one, we introduce you to Harry Long who has been chatting with Jeanne recently. Enjoy the reading !😊
Hello, Jeanne here from BWL Colina (initiative hosted by la Coop des Territoires).
Last time I have written here, was about the European Learning Summit 2026 organized by Commonland and the Bioregional Weaving Labs Collective in Romania. I was talking to you about the Summit, and I had mentioned one of the event's key takeaways was the incredible and inspiring people I was able to meet there. So the idea is to share with you short discussions that I recorded speaking with some of them about cooperation or about themsleves.
And here is a (part of) the discussion I had with Harry Long, who worked in the army, got injured, moved into project management positions and who is now working with farmers in local groups in Avon, UK at South Cotswold Fosse. My question to him was about what his army experience brought him in terms of cooperation and we let emerged what came out of it.
I was curious about it, especially keeping in mind:
- The book Tribe by Sebastian Junger, which talks about how some soldiers actually miss war because of the intense brotherhood experience in a difficult context.
- The work of Olivier Hamant on robustness, who shares that “in a world of abundance, there is competition, while in a world of scarcity, there is cooperation”, and I imagine war times = time of scarcity
I let you listen to the recording keeping in mind I am not a podcast pro, as you will hear it yourself with the music sound on the background, the numbers of “um” and the quality of the recording. I call for your tolerance and benevolence 😁
And for the most impatient ones 😉, I let you read at the bottom the key points that I personnally will keep from the discussion.
Key points :
- Real life experiences
Real-life experiences (like those of soldiers or farmers) make your world feel “narrower” because you face concrete situations with far more factors to take into account than you do in an office environment. So in the end, the world is more complex, but also more consistent, deeper, and brings more connectivity and mutual warmth.
For the complixity, it echoes to a podcast I listened to this weekend where Julien Devaureix read 2 short pieces of the French philosopher Edgar Morin who recently passed away, speaking about complexity (see here in French). Still reflecting on it 🙂
- Discomfort
To Harry (our “secret stoic” ^^), there is a great value to “controlled discomfort”. The fact that soldiers are exposed to heat, cold, pain, illness, and hunger makes it easier for them to handle those states when they are actually exposed to them. As a soldier’s “ability to manage unpleasantness goes through the roof,” the military experience becomes a learning space for resilience.
And I loved Harry mentioning discomfort, as it is a recurring question for me. I think for 2 reasons :
- First, I have the impression difficult moments can either separate you from people you share it with or just brings you so much closer. Just think about the hassle you came about during a trip with friends or family, or in a specific period of times you shared, and that you mention now with a smile on your face or laughing, bounded by the same thing that made you struggle. And it does not mean you had no tensions in those times too, it means you actually overcome them and that they “did not take the whole space”.
- “Guys, do you remember all the powercuts we had in Delhi in the dry season? haha, so crazy to wake up during the night sweating because our fans did not move anymore the 40°c air in the room ! 🤣”
- Second, it also echoes to a newsletter by Leila Hormozi sent over the last months where she actually state “Discomfort is your fastest path to growth”, which quite echoes for me. Not realistic or appealing to consider it should be all the time though. Just need to be a balance I guess 🤔 Personal thoughts ! 🙂
- “I am still here”
Harry's phrase “I am still here” reminds me of the Buddhist wisdom of observing impermanence. We go through different times—including uncomfortable and harsh ones—but what he talks about it realizing they pass, just like everything else in the end
On that note, I will leave you and will be back soon with another story!
*Small additional notes :
- Harry and I were speaking as 2 humans, sharing their thoughts at one moment and having for both of us our own bias.
- Obviously, we were not saying here that every discomfort or pain is a good thing, considering some can leave people with trauma and deeply affect their lives in the long run.
- I mentioned living in India for two years and having some “harsh” times with the heat (+ humidity especially in the case of Mumbai!). That obviously needs to be put into perspective: we didn't have AC and lived quite basically relatively to the standards I was raised in, though it was still much less “harsh” than it can be for many people living there. Just to add perspective 😉
Written by : Jeanne Allard
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