Launching the System Mirror: Feeling Our Way Into Relational Practice

It’s been a week since the Towards Relational Public Services conference in Manchester — and I’m still carrying the energy of it.

The event was a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we bring curiosity, vulnerability, and determination into shared space. I spent three days among practitioners, researchers, and changemakers who are all working to make our public services more relational, more human, and more effective.

Introducing “The System Mirror”

This was also the first time I publicly launched Who Works! microgames — tools I’ve been developing to support relational practice through play, embodiment, and structured reflection. It’s one thing to believe in something in theory… quite another to try it out in the wild.

So, I ran a session of The System Mirror — a microgame I created to help people feel their way into the complexity of systems. It invites participants to experience patterns of power, interaction, constraint, and emergence.

Not by talking about them. By moving through them.

I won’t lie — the nerves were real. But the feedback was overwhelming. Rich. Honest. Encouraging. One person even took it straight back to their own team and messaged:

“The System Mirror was a success! Such a great exercise.”

No additional support. No slides. Just the game doing what it was built to do.

That, to me, is the win.

Relationships Aren’t a Skillset. They’re Human.

Something beautiful happened alongside the conference: I reconnected with an old youth work colleague, and we reignited the timeless debate — What is the purpose of youth work?

That conversation landed deeply. Because it echoed the core belief behind my work:

we can’t train people to “do relationships.”

Relationships aren’t a skill you install. They’re human. Intuitive. Often messy — but essential.

What gets in the way is not a lack of care. It’s structure. It’s pressure. It’s the systemic constraints that shrink our capacity to connect, to listen, to lead with presence.

That’s where The System Mirror comes in. It doesn’t tell people how to behave. It creates space for people to notice, reflect, and feel what’s really going on — and what might be possible instead.

Relational Tools, Not Top-Down Fixes

This is the heart of what I want to offer.

Tools that are engaging, empowering, and easy to use — no specialist qualifications needed. Just space, intention, and a willingness to try.

If you’re curious about The System Mirror, you can explore it in your own time:

• 🔹 Part One – The Game Itself

• 🔹 Part Two – The Logic

• 🔹 Part Three – The Theory

• 🔹 Part Four – How Akani Can Support

👉 Download The System Mirror

Gratitude & Next Steps

Huge thanks to Hannah Hesselgreaves and Rob Wilson for continuing to champion relational public services.

Thank you to everyone who joined the conference, took part in the microgame, shared reflections, and helped The System Mirror launch into the world with warmth and generosity.

And massive appreciation to RR Creative Design for helping me pull it all together at short notice.

Let’s keep moving — together, relationally, systemically.

This is just the beginning.