We’re trying to improve the shape of things. Shapes are so entrenched in our lives, we sometimes don’t question them. CirclesSpace was born in Barcelona, where Gaudi’s Cathedral of the Sagrada Familia shocks you with spirals, curves, colors, images of nature, intertwined and dynamic. Gaudi dared to push the bounds of what shape a cathedral was supposed to be. Can we improve on the hierarchical shape of our classrooms and meeting rooms? What if we could learn, work and live in circles instead of rows?

When a small group of humans are arranged in a circle, they connect. Add facilitation. People feel included, heard, and begin to open up. They start giving and receiving help. Add short sparks of outside concepts and perspective shifts. They become more creative. Repeat every few weeks and they build trust, pushing each other to follow-through. When a Circle “jells,” as we call it, participants use words like magical and transformative.

We came together as a company, from Barcelona, New York, Buenos Aires, Lake Oswego, Auckland and more, to help other companies and communities create circles. Circles aren’t a novel idea. We’ve studied and worked with hundreds of practitioners of all kinds of Circles, and our goal is to amplify their efforts, contribute some tools, and spur on a movement. The advent of virtual spaces gave us an opening: it is easier to design and scale experiences digitally. Technology can help bring out our humanity. We’re continually improving our system, platform and services, as we learn from our partners, participants, and from each other. By shifting the shapes of communities and organizations, we optimize human potential.