An ethical, system-based approach that acknowledges many ways of knowing is a very new way to operate for many people. It is essential to examine and be open to the position of the other: other beliefs, cultures, values and ways of knowing. This is the only truly ethical position to take. It is so much easier to argue from a narrower position of simplistic belief and conviction, which provides a false sense of certainty and security. This is particularly true if instrumental reason is employed (and it often is). The acknowledgement of the need for an ethical system framework places a strong emphasis on listening, on relationships and on learning and adapting at the levels of individuals, communities and institutions. Working as part of a complex adaptive system requires individuals and institutions to be facilitators rather than the more usually observed modus operandi of command and control. Indeed, and exactly as Handy foretold, this is an age of unreason, of choice and flexibility, of the importance of little things and the effects of small decisions writ large. Nevertheless this is also the age of inclusion and ethics, so even small decisions must be couched in the landscape of context, consultation, networks and relationships.