Each and every week the Square Holes team are deep in the bowels of a number of projects, working to mine all of the insights that we can to help grow businesses and support thriving cities.

These insights are used by businesses and organisations to innovate their offerings, move into new markets, track their impact and hone their products and output. Each week we will be sharing a broad insight that we have learnt for you to use in your own work.

Let us know what you find valuable!

Jason: Hard sell arts

I’ve been thinking about the role of the arts in society. Sport is an easy sell in Australia. It’s in our nation’s DNA. We see ourselves as the underdog beating bigger nations. Sport represents teamwork, fitness and a clear story about who we are. The arts feel less certain, to some more risky or irrelevant. Are you a sports lover or an arts lover? It can become black and white. The Adelaide Fringe succeeds because it sits in the grey zone: affordable, low risk, social and ritualised. But many higher-brow art forms struggle. There’s a fear of wasting time and money on something you might not enjoy. Even live local music competes with the comfort of Netflix. It’s not always habitual, even in a UNESCO City of Music like Adelaide. Yet in a time of rapid change, the arts matter deeply. Sport builds physical strength and national identity. The arts build creativity, open-mindedness and emotional range. Human nature defaults to the safe and familiar. But just as sport trains the body, the arts stretch the mind, from joy to discomfort, from certainty to possibility.

Dylan: Why, not just what

Hall’s Cultural Iceberg Model reminds us that what we see on the surface (behaviours, trends, and preferences) is only a small part of the full story. The deeper values, beliefs, and lived experiences beneath the surface are what truly drive how people think and act. This reinforces the importance of moving beyond data and observation to ask “why,” not just “what.” Meaningful insights and impactful strategies come from understanding the hidden cultural drivers that shape human behaviour.

Mahalia: Artistic value

Much of the time when we want to quantify value, we tend to put a dollar amount to it. It’s no secret that the arts are big business in Australia, the sector contributed $67.4 billion to Australia’s economy in 2023-24. But when it comes to the real value that our cultural output gives us, that’s harder to quantify. It’s why in 2026 artists are still campaigning to make a living wage from their output, instead of juggling multiple jobs or navigating a hostile Centrelink system. If our government wants to continue to toot their own horn about Australia’s unique artistic talent, they need to get serious about providing emerging creatives with the tools and support to make careers out of their art.

Think your business or organisation could do with some insights? Contact us here.