What is The Next Right Thing?
This is an experiment in making sense of complex times and in recovering a sense of agency without pretending there are easy answers. Understanding the world only takes us so far. We also need practical tools and deep social connections to do this work.
Who is this for?
In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell describes “connectors”: people who move easily between different communities and help ideas circulate. You might recognise something of yourself in that description. The Next Right Thing is a space to practise this work together and develop the skills to translate complex social and ecological realities into conversations that actually move people to action.
A community of practice — and play
You could call The Next Right Thing a community of practice, but my soul would rather call it a community of play. Gathering with other curious and like-minded people to find new ways of seeing and responding can be joyful and replenishing even when the facts are often sobering. Whether you’re an educator, entrepreneur, concerned parent or journalist, you’re welcome here if you feel called to explore important social questions of our time not as a bystander but as a participant.
Why combine community and AI?
While meaning-making and responsibility ultimately remain human work, tools can still support the process. The Next Right Thing includes an AI thought companion that supports reflection and dialogue by weaving together insights from thinkers such as Nate Hagens, Jason Hickel, S. I. Hayakawa, George Lakoff and Sarah Stein Lubrano, alongside practical approaches like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing and Deep Canvassing.
Its role is not to provide answers, but to help you test perspectives, explore language and clarify what might be yours to do next.
A bit about me
I’m Sean Hutchman. My background is a slightly unusual mix: political science, Spanish literature and law. I studied at the University of Toronto before earning my law degree at McGill University.
I now teach business and law students at a university in Barcelona and am a coach accredited by the International Coaching Federation.
My interest in questions of power, responsibility and the common good eventually led me to the work of Nate Hagens, whose ecological perspective on economics helped reshape how I think about the climate crisis and the systems that drive it.
Teaching these issues has convinced me that complex problems require more than information. They also require that we translate abstract processes into language and stories people can recognise in their own lives.
Much of this work ultimately comes down to attention — learning to stay with uncertainty and difficult emotions long enough for wiser responses to emerge.
I’m originally from Montréal and have lived in Barcelona for the past fifteen years.