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!

Ewa: Social glue coming unstuck?

Is Australia’s social glue wearing thin?

The latest ABS General Social Survey reveals a subtle but important change in Australian society. Since 2019, fewer Australians volunteer (30% to 23%), fewer regularly catch up with friends and family outside their household (68% to 53%), and fewer believe that most people can be trusted (55% to 50%). All three shifts point in the same direction: a society where people are a little less engaged with one another than they were just a few years ago.

Mahalia: State of art(s)

For years, artists have been campaigning to make a base wage from their arts practice. The issue is simple – without the support of the government and not-for-profit organisations, arts and culture in Australia will struggle to survive.

Research from Creative Australia shows that the average artist earns roughly $14,000 to $23,000 a year from their creative practice, which is far below the national minimum wage. It is also reported that over 80% of visual artists and craft practitioners must rely on outside jobs, volunteering, or insecure project grants to pay rent and survive.

So how do we teach people to value the arts when our artists can barely survive off their practice?

Jason: Retail therapy

What is the weirdest Saturday evening Facebook purchase you’ve ever made?

I’m not on Facebook all that much. Or at least I try not to be.

Then my wife said, “There’s a 115-year-old R. Görs & Kallmann baby grand piano for sale for $250.”

Recently used in an Adelaide Repertory Theatre production, and played by Michael Griffith. Tuned to concert standard. Just 600 metres from our Adelaide studio.

A quick message.

A phone call.

Two hours later, on a Saturday evening, we’d bought it. It needed to be picked up by Wednesday, as it was in the audience seating area and needed to make way for the next show, Jesus Christ Superstar.

The piano cost $250. Specialist movers the following week $420. For $670, a remarkable piece of Berlin craftsmanship found a new home.

It now sits in our orange studio, alongside AI, modern technology and lots of contemporary art.

And that’s what struck me. We’re living through one of the biggest technological shifts in history, yet a 115-year-old baby grand somehow feels perfectly at home.

Perhaps that’s one of the tensions of our time. As technology accelerates, we seem to value human craftsmanship, stories and authenticity even more.

At Square Holes, we’re always looking for patterns, tensions and shifts. Maybe this piano is one.

Most people probably saw an old instrument that was difficult to move. We saw history, culture, creativity and possibility.

It somehow made sense.

What did I learn this week?

The best opportunities often hide in plain sight. React quickly, and it may then make sense.

Curiosity helps us see what others overlook. Sometimes that’s an insight. Sometimes it’s a 115-year-old piano.

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 >