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.

Businesses and organisations use these insights 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!

Dylan: A beginning, middle and end

Building on last week’s reflection on liminality, I’ve been thinking more about why we need rituals to mark major life transitions. One thing that stood out while writing this week’s article is that rituals don’t just help us navigate change internally; they also allow the people around us to recognise it.

A graduation ceremony doesn’t make someone a graduate, just as a wedding ceremony doesn’t create a relationship. But these shared moments give change a sense of significance and arrival. They allow us to collectively acknowledge that something has shifted.

It’s a good reminder as we manoeuvre our own big life events. The traditions we create around these moments of transition aren’t just simply things to tick off. Rituals give change a beginning, middle and end, helping us move from one chapter of life to the next, not just practically, but emotionally and socially.

Mahalia: Ritual as a mirror

As we reach our final week of ritual at Think! I’ve been thinking about how ritual holds up a mirror to ourselves and to society. The rituals that we build and create space and time for help us to understand what is important.

Some collective rituals come with history (like weddings and funerals), but as we continue to evolve as a society, we are leaning more towards individualisation. Where once we would’ve felt pressure to conform to the rituals of old, nowadays people are infusing ritual with their own sense of meaning and connection.

Take, for example, weddings. Up until 1973, wedding ceremonies in Australia were either conducted at a church or at the registry office, before the Marriage Act was amended to allow a third option – a civil ceremony.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that up until the early 2000s, roughly 80% of wedding ceremonies were conducted in a religious context, with the remaining 20% of couples married either in a Registry Office or by a Civil Celebrant. But some 20+ years later, that ratio has flipped, with the 2021 Census revealing that over 80% of wedding ceremonies are now conducted as civil ceremonies, with less than 20% being officiated through either religious or government registry offices.

Jason: Regional woes

I spent much of this week travelling and talking with farmers in regional South Australia.

A theme that came up in one community was the slowing of involvement in local football and other sporting clubs. These clubs are often the lifeblood of regional areas, allowing people to bond and supporting both physical and mental health. Rising insurance costs, busy lives and the risk of a farmer or other worker breaking an arm and being unable to work are all factors discouraging participation.

Another theme was that many local businesses were already struggling before the current drought arrived, and some were unable to survive. People who might once have picked up a bit of part-time farming work were no longer needed. When money is tight, some people try to connect, while others disconnect.

Pubs are closing in many regional areas, with some going for bargain prices. Perhaps some could be reimagined as community hubs: cafés, meeting places or spaces to work alongside others. Places that give people a reason to come together.

Life in the regions has always been hard, and that has built resilience. But it seems to be getting harder. Communities are at risk of changing, declining and no longer offering what they once did.

For Australia to lose part of its regional farming identity, or even the viability of the Aussie pub as a cultural icon, would be very sad. Farmers and others in the regions feel ignored, undervalued and alone.

Do governments truly engage beyond the metro area? Regional communities often think not.

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 >