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: Life, death and shit 

On Sunday, I saw the incredible work ‘A Year without Summer’ by Florentina Holzinger at Rising Festival. It was a musical/comedy/revelation performed entirely by AFAB (Assigned Female at Birth) bodies, ranging from the sublime to the grotesque. It explores themes of body autonomy, human mortality, and the medical industrial complex. The show is a reminder of what can happen when art institutions are provided adequate funding and allowed to boldly program without concerns of censorship or sponsor upset. Amongst the oozing shit (fake), orgy of bodies (real) and the humour of musical numbers by a coked up Freud (hilarious) – was a deeply life-affirming message.

Dylan: The intention/ action gap

One observation I’ve had this week (as we’ve been conducting some work on sustainability behaviours in the home) is that the gap between intention and action is often much smaller than the gap between intention and habit. Most people already know they could be doing better, but everyday behaviours are largely driven by routines and convenience rather than conscious decision-making. This means unsustainable behaviours often persist not because people don’t care, but because existing habits are easier, more automatic and better supported by the systems around them.

Ewa: Lost and found

Every year, Uber releases its Lost & Found Index – a roundup of the most commonly (and bizarrely) forgotten items left behind in rideshares. On one level, it’s pure entertainment: this year’s list includes everything from dentures and wedding dresses to live butterflies and 70 tiramisu cakes. But it’s also an unexpectedly revealing snapshot of modern life. The things people carry with them – and go to the trouble of reporting lost – say a lot about what matters to us.

Technology dominates the list, with phones, headphones and laptops among the most forgotten items. It’s a reminder of just how embedded these devices have become in everyday life. Phones in particular are no longer just phones – they hold our banking, tickets, maps, photos, messages and memories. Losing one can feel less like misplacing an object and more like temporarily losing access to life itself.

The data also hints at the moments when we’re most likely to slip out of autopilot. Sundays are the peak day for forgotten items, and holiday destinations are hotspots for lost property too. It makes sense: when routines break down – during weekends away, celebrations, travel or late nights – people become more distracted and less anchored by habit. In that sense, the list is less about forgetfulness and more about the messy, transitional moments that make up real life.

And then there are the stranger items: mannequin heads, oxygen tanks, a fish line, a Viking drinking horn. Together, they paint a picture of rideshare services as extensions of people’s social lives. The Lost & Found Index works because, behind the humour, it offers a surprisingly human portrait of who we are.

Square Holes is a cultural insight studio.

We design mixed method explorations of people and culture beyond the category,  uncovering the patterns, tensions and shifts shaping behaviour to inform strategy, inspire innovation and enable confident decisions. Our studio model brings together the right mix of thinkers, researchers and specialists for each exploration. If you’re navigating change, entering a new market, or seeking deeper understanding of people and culture, let’s start a conversation >