Walking Together in Business

Jan Devlin | Gravity Discovery Centre and Observatory

The history of the Gravity Discovery Centre site and my experience working in Aboriginal communities, has inspired, and empowered me to take on a leadership model of being a CEO with one foot in each of two distinct cultures.

The Gravity Discovery Centre and Observatory is just one hour north of Perth CBD and thousands of years it was part of a meeting place where Wadjuk and Yued people came together to do all sorts of business. I now feel like I am continuing a time-honoured tradition of doing business on the beautiful piece of Yued country where we are located and embracing a goal to walk the path of the two worlds and two stories that make up Australia’s history.

Here at the Gravity Discovery Centre and Observatory we celebrate connection to a beautiful landscape and have some amazing Aboriginal artwork, Aboriginal Astronomy and our Two Worlds-One Story Corporate program and an echo ground believed to be an ancient dance ground.

Aboriginal Culture and Western Culture have loads to teach each other, and we are always better off and much richer and successful when we are learning from others.

I have a couple of examples.

Take HR, in Western culture we have a bazillion ways to do HR. There are HR companies, books, workshops, HR specialists and so on, you get the picture. In Aboriginal culture if you listen, are honest, transparent, genuinely caring, and willing to yarn and share everything then that is success.

Then how complicated have we made marketing these days? It makes my head spin - SEO, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Snapchat, TikTok, radio, TV, industry magazines, target market groups, competitive advantage, to name some. We need to find time for all this and much more. In Aboriginal culture we slow down and really listen to each other, we talk about the heartfelt stories of our businesses, the people in them and talk about the difference we can make to the world.

The key lessons that Western Business can learn from Aboriginal Culture are simple, listen carefully to each other, communicate with empathy and understanding, be tolerant of each other, be proud of who we are and the stories we tell, be honest and try to make a difference.

In summary, at the Gravity Discovery Centre and Observatory cultural crossovers between Western business and Aboriginal culture are making doing business both more fulfilling and more successful.

For more information about the contents of this article please visit https://gravitycentre.com.au/ or  contact Jan Devlin at manager@gravitycentre.com.au or on 08 9575 7577