Discombobulation as a method - shifting seats and a silent course interrupts autopilot; discomfort becomes a doorway to noticing.
When the room fell into shared silence, the broccoli-stem falafel went warm in our mouths and the city’s noise thinned - innovation felt like listening.
A private supper for the Global Good × Amani leadership team and fellows - builders using business as a lever for change. We co-cooked with Embark Dining and began by asking the venue what they throw away most. From there we dreamt up a discombobulating, zero-waste meal rooted in Nairobi’s ingenuity - African staples, thrifty craft, playful form. Then we made the table a small act of wonder with garden foraged flowers, fairy lights and lemon-skin tealights.
One course was eaten in silence, guided by mindful-eating prompts: What moved you? What small detail surprised you? Can you feel the field behind this bite? After, pairs reflected on what felt uncomfortable and what sharpened in their attention. The point wasn’t performance; it was noticing - how curiosity and intentional discombobulation can change what and how we choose. The emergence of new ideas needs unusual questions.
Menu highlights
Cauliflower-leaf soup with revived stale-bread tostada, topped with lemongrass–ginger fish trimmings (skin-on ginger, sake, rabbit-bone stock, chives)
Vegetable-peel salad with leftover tofu in sesame oil, pickled onion peels, limp-herb stems, and coriander-stem macadamia oil
Broccoli-stem + beetroot falafel with broccoli-leaf shiro, shredded beet leaves; red sorghum with potato-peel sauce (sumac, parsley stems, lemon rind)
Rhubarb & squishy-berry compote, banana-peel purée
Avocado-stone crackers for passing and breaking
Ripple
Leaders left with a new brief: keep one peculiar question on every project table - What are we overlooking that could become the point? Several vowed to make silence (and attention) part of how they design.
