Patrick Andrews
14 June 2021
Intrepid creator of new corporate structures
Audio
Video
Patrick Andrews
Lawyer and facilitator
Founder, Barefoot Lawyer
Patrick Andrews is a lawyer and facilitator with over 30 years’ experience in corporate structures and governance. He goes by the description Barefoot Lawyer. A barefoot lawyer he says is someone who makes law accessible, who meets people where they are and who is connected to the earth.
An intensely curious soul and a deep thinker, he has garnered a reputation for designing innovative, human-centred and earth-friendly corporate structures. In this episode, we talk about his journey to the outer reaches of corporate law and governance, and the treasures he brings back on his intellectual travels.
Bio:
Patrick Andrews is a lawyer and facilitator. He is the founder of Barefoot Lawyer. A barefoot lawyer, says Patrick, is someone who makes law accessible, who meets people where they are and who is connected to the earth. All of these are important in his practice.
He is also co-founder of Human Organising Co ,a collaborative venture of five individuals, following a path to find more meaning and life in work. Coming from diverse backgrounds - law, healthcare, theatre, inter-cultural collaboration - they are committed to helping others uncover the deeper humanity that often lies dormant in an organisation.
Show notes:
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[1:39] Patrick shares his story of his first trip to China, where he realised his job as a corporate lawyer had wider repercussions on society and the planet, that weren't necessarily for the better.
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[8:49] Patrick discusses his years of 'wandering', looking for root causes of why so many good people in the capitalist, corporate world make decisions that perpetuate harm and inequity.
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[9:18] Patrick says he began to see it was a systemic issue and sought to apply his innate curiosity to solving it.
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[11:50] Patrick forayed into the not-for-profit world and found an equally toxic environment there.
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[12:51] Patrick explained that he finally determined that our existing corporate legal structures are not equipped to underpin the type of corporation the world needs and he set about building it.
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[17:43] Patrick began to see his role as a bridge-builder, working with entrepreneurs who were visionary and brave enough to work with him to create new structures.
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[19:47] We talk about the B Corporation model, which Patrick sees as a positive but still interim model to more radical change.
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[22:16] Patrick explains his ideas of moving beyond the concept of ownership of a company and ownership of employees, which harks back to serfdom and slavery.
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[25:07] I ask Patrick his views on The British Academy's Future of the Corporation and Principles of Purposeful Business, which is brilliant in its conceptualisation of the different parts that need to be innovated.
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[26:27] Moving away from a top-down, growth-oriented model to something more fluid and accepting of human complexity aligns with quantum theory and nature. In this vein, Patrick is exploring multiple-board models.
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[31:33] Patrick shares the four elements of change he is working on, starting with embedding purpose in by-laws, in common with B Corporations. The second element is implementing a mission lock to protect the purpose through a golden-share mechanism.
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[33:36] In discussing the third element of removing a rigid, controlling, hierarchical management structure, Patrick brings up the seminal book Reinventing Organisations by Frederic Laloux,
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[36:30] Patrick's fourth element is the decentralisation of power towards polycentric governance, reminiscent of Indigenous ways of organising their tribal structures including Aboriginal Australian and Native American.
Links:
Patrick's website: barefoot lawyer.uk
Margaret Wheatley: author, teacher, speaker and management consultant.
B Corporations: businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
Future of the Corporation, a British Academy program examining the purpose of business and its role in society,
Principles of Purposeful Business: the British Academy's eight principles of purposeful business for business leaders and policymakers.
Colin Mayer, CBE, Professor of Management Studies at Said Business School.
Purpose Economy: a group of non-profit and for-purpose organisations developing an ecosystem of knowledge, resources, support, and capital necessary to make transitioning to steward-ownership and raising capital on aligned terms easier for businesses.
An article on mission lock.
Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness, by Frederic Laloux.
Bill Neidjie, author of Australia's Kakadu Man: Bill Neidjie, philosopher, Gagudju elder and storyteller, the last speaker of Gagudju.
