What do you do when the people you most need to work with are the ones you most fundamentally disagree with?

In this episode of The Discomfort Practice, Betsy sits down with renowned facilitator and systems thinker Adam Kahane, whose work has brought together politicians, activists, CEOs, guerrilla fighters and community leaders in some of the most polarized environments in the world.

From South Africa's transition out of apartheid to complex global conflicts today, Adam has spent decades working in the uncomfortable middle: helping people collaborate across profound differences without pretending those differences don't exist.

This conversation explores what it actually takes to move forward together when trust is low, stakes are high, and nobody is getting exactly what they want.

In this episode, Betsy and Adam explore:

• Why collaboration doesn't require agreement

• The difference between controlling systems and participating in them

• How conflict can become a generative force instead of a dead end

• What it means to act when outcomes are uncertain

• Why real change often emerges from experimentation rather than certainty

This is not a conversation about neat solutions. It's about learning how to work inside the mess, with curiosity, humility, and courage.

About Adam Kahane

Adam Kahane is a director of Reos Partners and a leading facilitator of complex change processes around the world. He has worked with leaders from business, government, and civil society to address some of the toughest systemic challenges - from democratic transitions to climate change and economic inequality.

He is the author of several influential books including Everyday Habits for Transforming Systems: The Catalytic Power of Radical Engagement and Collaborating with the Enemy: How to Work with People You Don't Agree with or Like or Trust).

Learn more about Adam's work:

• https://www.reospartners.com

• https://www.adamkahane.com

If this episode landed for you:

• Follow and message Betsy on Instagram @thebetsyreed

• Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a five-star review (it truly helps)

• Join her on Substack at The Betsy Reed for (Voice) Notes from the Edge — some public, some subscriber-only:
  https://substack.com/thebetsyreed

• Work with Betsy: coaching, consulting, speaking, embodied leadership sessions, upcoming community circles, and People Like Us dinners across Europe:
  https://www.betsy-reed.com

"The world doesn't need us to be perfect; it just needs us to be present."

Betsy has been a meditation teacher for 10 years, and in that time, her own practice has changed. Before leading a 'Senses Meditation,' she swears a bit, she quotes singer Billy Bragg and invites you to meditate.

The answer to 'crunchy times' is not to escape them, to seek to 'ascend' and get away from the very real discomfort happening to you. The answer is sometimes to just be human in the midst of it, to realise that a regulated nervous system doesn't necessarily mean you're calm.

So step into your body, set aside 10 minutes or so to do this meditation - whether walking, driving, in the gym or sitting in your bed - and enjoy being with yourself. Whatever that feels like right now.

If you'd like more:

• Betsy records bespoke meditations, so if you'd like to commission some to accompany you through life right now, get in touch.

• Follow and message Betsy on Instagram @thebetsyreed

• Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a five-star review (it truly helps)

• Join her on Substack at The Betsy Reed for (Voice) Notes from the Edge - some public, some subscriber-only: substack.com/thebetsyreed

What happens when you revisit something you once said with conviction… and realise you'd express it differently today?

In this solo episode of The Discomfort Practice, Betsy reflects on the strange experience of discovering that one of her older episodes, The World Is Evolving. Are You?, has quietly become the most downloaded episode in the 5 years this podcast has been produced.

So she went back and listened. And cringed.

This episode is about the discomfort of encountering your past thinking in public, and the quiet, ongoing work of evolving how we speak about the world and our place in it.

In this episode, Betsy explores:

• Revisiting past ideas and noticing what has changed
• The gap between what we believe and how we express it
• How privilege can show up subtly in tone and framing
• The tension between personal agency narratives and structural realities
• What it means to evolve in public rather than in private
• This is an episode for anyone who has ever revisited their own work and realised they might say things differently today.

If this landed for you:

• Follow and message Betsy on Instagram @thebetsyreed
• Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a five-star review (it truly helps)
• Join her on Substack at The Betsy Reed for (Voice) Notes from the Edge — some public, some subscriber-only: substack.com/thebetsyreed
• Work with Betsy: coaching, consulting, speaking, embodied leadership sessions, upcoming community circles, and People Like Us dinners across Europe: www.betsy-reed.com