Our twenty first century world faces a series of unprecedented crises. Pandemics of loneliness, obesity and diabetes. Spiraling inequality. Financial meltdowns. Environmental destruction.

We’re obsessed with finding big, complicated, technological solutions to these modern ills.

But what if the solutions lie not in techno fixes, but in harnessing the power of one of the oldest and simplest human units – the sympathy group – the smallest social unit outside the family? In a radical new argument, Professor Anthony Costello shows how the power, ingenuity and tenacity of small groups:

• Has guided the course of human history, hidden in plain sight, from hunter-gatherer societies to the present day,
• Dramatically improved health and survival of mothers and infants in Asia and Africa,
• Could re-ignite revolutionary social change in over-individualised societies for our sustainable future,
• Can radically change how we address the culture of government, finance and economics.

In this fascinating and important book, Professor Costello dares to suggest twenty-two social experiments to underpin solutions to our modern crises, and lays out ideas to help managers and decision-makers create an ecology for success.