18 April 2025
Our Manifesto
The Problem
Listening is not new, but really hearing what matters, through the noise, urgency and pressure to move fast, is harder than ever. We are under pressure to move quickly, to compete, to produce outcomes. In the process, listening often becomes surface-level, or skipped altogether – being too quick to do without listening and learning. Important connections are lost and are replaced with process and technology. And when we do take time to listen meaningfully, the structures – policy, bureaucracy, red tape and productivity demands, block us from taking action. The demands of on our lives means we are not considering, for a moment, how will our actions impact our communities and our environments.
Our Purpose
We exist to give you more confidence to listen to your own gut vibe and to listen to your partners, customers, and communities to learn and be guided on what is right. We exist to turn what you listen to into insight and action. At Listen + Do, we are here to help you:
Create meaningful connections: with our communities and customers. Listen deeply: to people, places, and what’s often left unsaid. Bring those insights back into what we do: in ways that are practical and creative.
We are here to help you do what you already care about with more clarity and more connection—learning to trust and listen in a way that leads to collaborative ‘doing’.
The old way Get feedback and reviews Move fast, act busy Trust experts Hire someone to listen Strategy first, people later Scale fast, at all costs.
From
A better way Build real connections Slow down, do meaningfully Listen to people Listen together People first, strategy next Grow steady, strong, and local.
→ To
What we stand by
Businesses and organisations are part of community, not separate from it.
Real business happens not when we shout louder, but when start listening
Listening is leadership, and is: hearing, feeling, observing.
We listen first to the word on the street, not degrees or experts.
Real strategy starts with real connections and listening
How-to’s and methods are helpful, but listening matters more.
We do work that represents how we want to see community to grow.
The stories of partners, customers, and communities is intelligence.
The stories we hear are evidence. Turning them into action is the real work.
It takes courage to take what we hear and change the way we work.
Listening without accountability leads to risk, reactivity, and disconnection.
Taking action without meaningful listening is to act blindly.
The best work happens when we trust our instincts.
We listen to problems, but also listen for opportunities
We welcome and listen to everybody, respectfully
Our Promise
To services and businesses:
We will listen with you, and for you.
We will work with you to bring insights into action.
We will listen, not prescribe the work we do.
We will build connections, not transactions.
To communities and customers:
We will create safe, accessible spaces to share your experiences.
We will honour the stories you share and help carry them forward.
We will stick by people as they bring stories back into their work.
We can’t promise that every story will lead to action.
But we promise to do the work of trying, together.
Our commitment to country and culture
We live and work on the land of the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation. The spirit of our First Peoples, of deep listening, connection to country, and custodianship shapes how we show up in the world. We are also shaped by our refugee and migrant stories, and the resilience, re-rooting, and relationship-building that has come with them.
Your invitation
At Listen + Do, our work begins at home – in the neighbouring communities of the City of Greater Dandenong, City of Kingston and City of Glen Eira, on the traditional lands of the Bunurong People, SE suburbs of Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. These are the places we live, work, and listen. We're here to reconnect with the people, organisations, and businesses who shape these places, and to help rebuild strong local relationships, close to home.
If you're working in these communities and want to do things differently – in a more connected way – we'd love to hear from you.
And if you’re based somewhere else, but our work speaks to you, don’t let geography stop you!
Reach out anyway and say hello.