There are five master areas that influence our daily human life. That is entrepreneurship, the consumer (the market), the banks, government and science. Each of the areas are controlled by humans through islands of influence of their own. The interaction is one of need, regulation and interdependence, not out of common purpose or partnership.

Each of these islands are driven by control and power through highly self maintaining institutions. Over time the gap between the islands has widened and cooperation or interaction is mainly out of self interest. The function of each area is a black box that is not to be interfered with by anyone outside that box. The size of these power zones have grown so big and powerful that corruption, insensitivity to the consequences of hierarchies of power and openess to dialogue for transformative change is impossible.

Together these five areas are so much dependent on eachother that they form a solid global operational system called the global economy of growth.

Another few master areas of influence have appeared that are beyond human control: natural disasters, our finite environment and unexpected system interruptions. These areas interfer increasingly with the big five causing the system to collapse and rebuilt with great effort, fear and anxiety.

One would think that with the impressive evidence of the ending of the system that people in power would sit together and try to solve it for the benefit of continuation. But this does not happen, at least not all five sectors together. And as all five are interrelated it is a key requirement to get them all to work together. But out of free will they will not! Who would be leading?

Governments have their own perception of reality and so do bankers and business people. Science wants to understand no matter what we do with the understanding and the average consumer simply wants to remain in the position to keep consuming. If you put the five together voluntarily they won’t even turn up for the meeting.  The word sustainability for the five means as much as “keep the system going” and “do not interfer with me or the system will crash”.

Invariably the system will crash no matter what but not until the five in power have done everything they can to get the last bit out of it. Meanwhile the amount of system interruptions will grow and cause crisis after crisis. Sensitivity for change is growing and true sustainability is defined to be much more of the kind of human survival and if possible, some quality of life for all of us.

The problem is that each of the five will not take leadership for change. They depend to much of eachother to let any take the lead for a transformation that will redesign the entire human organization. If one would start it would necessarily need to question the viability of the other. And for that it has no authority.

To bridge the independent yet interrelated islands a new island is needed, the island of partnership and trust. This island is governed by an independent purpose (not money) driven institution such as the STIR Foundation. It bridges the other five key areas that remain functioning as usual on their own with the same interdependence but lack of cooperation and trust.

On the special STIR island they get together with their competences to take responsibility for a common higher purpose. On this island the column of values rules and are safeguarded. The higher purpose is true sustainability but redefined in manageable sub issues. The independence of the island, its own internal purpose driven governance and the supervision as well as responsibility taken by the non governmental and non business and non scientific independent authority make it the missing link for defining and introducing true and complex sustainable progress without the need for war or chaos.

One example of such independent value driven cooperation is the AiREAS company that works on a local for local basis within the global context. Experimenting with the delicate process of bridging the feeling of safety when addressing a higher purpose without the stress of the hierarchy of power is highly desirable by all involved. All are intelligent and understand the need for change but feel trapped in their own maze of interrelated interests. By disattaching the competences from the system they can be united around a purpose and act together to determine new processes of value that can be rapidly put in place without putting the old hierarchies under pressure.

Using the missing link the transition can take place gradually but insistantly with the key parties involved taking joint responsibility and taking the universal issues also in consideration. By applying science and innovation in the complexity of our current civilization through small but highly visible steps we will get us step by step back into a new but different comfort zone  allowing the power positions to transform without necessarily crashing the entire system.

One day the transformation will be business as usual and the missing link may disappear again as true catalist of a complex process.