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!

Mahalia: Diary of a renter

I’ve been renting in Australia for over 19 years now and have dealt with every possible issue from mould-caked bathrooms to walls that gush water when it rains outside. Housing insecurity has meant I’ve lied about pets, lived in stressful dynamics long past breaking point and fixed issues in the home myself because real estate agents refuse to, to avoid ending up homeless. I’ve spent thousands on moving costs and end-of-lease cleans, counselled friends through situations with predatory real estate agents, and paid exorbitant rental increases for crumbling properties. From the inside, I can categorically say that our housing system is broken.

Ewa: Social myths

At Square Holes, we talk a lot about culture. Not as a separate category – as in “Arts and Culture” sitting off to the side – but as the backdrop for everything. It’s the canvas on which decisions are made, relationships are formed, and brands are chosen.

This way of thinking is helpful because it shows how much culture shapes even our most basic beliefs. I was reminded of this while reading a recent article about… sitting with your legs crossed.

In short, there’s no real evidence that sitting cross-legged is harmful. And yet, a lot of us grew up hearing exactly that. I know I did – warnings about ruining your back or causing varicose veins. It always felt comfortable, so I kept doing it, while also carrying this quiet assumption that I was probably doing something “bad” for my body.

The article pointed out that sitting “properly” hasn’t just been about health – it’s also been tied to ideas of discipline and good character. Posture, in other words, was moralised. Some ways of sitting were seen as “proper” and well-behaved, while others were labelled sloppy or inappropriate.

Once something carries that kind of moral weight, it’s easy for cultural preferences to blur into supposed medical truths. Repeat an idea often enough, and it starts to sound like fact. What begins as etiquette slowly hardens into “health advice”.

There are plenty of examples of this. Here are a couple:

Left-handedness was once seen as a sign of developmental or even moral issues, with some believing it could lead to learning difficulties or instability.

Reading in the dark or sitting too close to the TV was long thought to cause permanent eye damage. In reality, both might lead to temporary strain, but not lasting harm.

In each case, the pattern is similar: a cultural discomfort turns into a judgment, which then gets dressed up as medical advice.

What’s interesting isn’t just that these ideas spread – it’s how invisible they are while we’re inside them. Cultural norms tend to feel like common sense, or even “knowledge,” until something disrupts them. Reading that article was one of those moments for me. I realised I’d taken something on as fact without ever questioning where it came from.

That’s what makes culture so powerful. It quietly shapes how we see the world – and ourselves – often in ways we don’t notice.

Jason: Breaking point or a breakthrough?

I worked late in the office yesterday, playing with something that has been on my mind for a long time. I’ve been feeling a bit strained lately, from all the heaviness out there, and a line came to mind: “It is often only at breaking point that a breakthrough is made.”

This feels particularly true right now across many of the sectors we are working in, including wine, grain, hospitality, retail, housing and more.

One project we completed late last year was a national wine industry study exploring emission reduction (and related environmental, efficiency and innovation impacts). While many producers were actively doing everything they could to keep up with the changes, there was also a good amount of pushback. It was described as the toughest time for the industry “ever”, and getting tougher, with participants expressing, “It was the wrong message at the wrong time.”

Others noted that the toughest times are also when the senses are sharpened, where what is working and failing in a business becomes crystal clear. Any waste can no longer be tolerated as it once might have been.

Survival mode is tough. It can be like kryptonite. But in the desperation to survive, it can also create a kind of superpower, perhaps through adrenaline, or drawing from the depths of an almost empty fuel tank for one last push.

Hitting breaking point can go one of two ways. Either you physically or mentally break, hitting the wall in the business or whatever you’re working on, with all the repercussions that come with it. Or, you find a breakthrough.

As Thomas Edison once noted: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” Eventually, the breaking point forces the decision: do you break, or do you find a breakthrough?

As Edison also said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

Although, as another wise voice reminds us, “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.” So the question remains — should you run, or are you on the verge of a breakthrough?

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