Beyond Sustainability - The Dawn of Regenerative Businesses
Despite the remarkable achievements of humanity during the 20th century, the economic system that we have built as a collective has been pushed to its limits globally. A healthy future cannot continue without a disruptive transformation. The science accumulated over the decades is irrefutable. Beginning with the first 2 fundamental laws of thermodynamics simply put:
We live on a finite planet where nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything transforms.
The more energy is transferred or transformed, more and more of it is wasted. There is a natural tendency of any isolated system to degenerate into a more disordered state
That being said, the expectation of our current financial system does not take those fundamentals into consideration. Especially with its high demands for exponential growth of capital, and the extractive growth of GDP. This tension has put our economy face to face on a collision course with the finite resources of our planet, the soil and its atmosphere. This modus operandi has defied ethics and values with the over-extraction not only of the earth's resources, but people within organisations - where a plethora of research shows a growing number of burnouts, and mental health related issues that are pushing humanity to a brink.
This relentless pursuit, is a very narrow pursuit of infinite growth on returns on invested capital. With little grounding in moral and ethical values, we have dissociated ourselves from being a part of the very system we live in - nature, contributing to the collapse of the ecosystem and ecology upon which we depend on to live and thrive as society. Not to mention a growing and destabilizing wealth gap and security crises around the globe.
Over the past few years we’ve seen a huge amount of energy and activity in the sustainability space, organisations have been taking stands, joining the UN global compact, various agreements, statements, measuring and capturing carbon, ESG financial products with regulatory bodies and the list goes on… Yet the expectations of stakeholders, investors, bureaucracy and fundamental attitudes are often still the same.
The seeking for infinite growth, a rapid cash grab, and how we do business is the same. We can sometimes get caught up by the excitement, the need to do something now and fast that we stumble into ‘the signs of land’ where we think we’re going in the right direction - but we still get caught up in the same behaviors and patterns that we know. Like a mirage in a dessert, it remains a cloud of dust, a figment of our imagination.
This is a pattern I have seen many times in when coaching Leaders and their team through their Enterprise Agile Transformation. Where behavior and actions does not align with intention and direction. According to the “2022 State of Agile Coaching Report,” changing culture and attitudes remains the most significant challenge to agile adoption, with organizational structure not suited to enabling agility and flow being a close second in the early stage.
Not to mention the energy, cost and effort that is needed to push these types of large initiatives on already very busy and overwhelmed people.
It’s not only about changing the way you work, but why and how you relate to one another. How as a collective, do we make sense and adapt to the complex challenges and situations at hand. These are very similar challenges found in sustainability, since the change not only requires a different way of doing things, but a different way of thinking, interacting and of being.
Studies have already demonstrated that sustainable businesses flourish and are economically viable. Yet the concept of sustaining isn’t enough. Why? Too much damage has been caused. We have to go beyond and collectively practice a journey of integration, connecting back to nature and integrating externalities within the business and market ecosystem to navigate and thrive within the boundaries of our planet.
For example, the rise in interest in circular design in product development and economy with Doughnut Economics by Kate Rawerth, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and more.
What has emerged from these wonderful awe inspiring companies, is a practice of using the waste from one industry as the prime source of material for their own. Like using stale bread from a bakery to make delicious tasting beer at Toast Ale, to using used coffee grounds to make an energising body scrub or even nutrient rich soil to grow HK based Urban Mushrooms. Even using cashew nut shells to make bio nano fuel from EP Fueltech. The list goes on! There are even industries coming together to innovate on common issues, where Carlsberg, L’Oreal and Coke came together to innovate in paper bottling with Paboco. All of which is exciting, energizing - so what more can be done?
Businesses are not just about the product or its physical operations, it’s PEOPLE, the ones within it - such as the partners, suppliers, vendors - all of which have people. Since the industrial revolution, we have inherited a very mechanistic way to see the world and organisations. We can often hear it in the analogies or metaphors for businesses where they are cogs in a machine and the cause and effect can be predicted. We like to hold on to this way of seeing the world because it feels comforting - yet it gives us a false sense of security and control. The truth is that our environment is volatile, uncertain and unpredictable and we have no control. We’re essentially looking at the world with a warped pair of glasses. It is akin to saying that as humans we are only our bodies. Yet we are living breathing organisms that feel, think, speak, create, and innovate.
As Albert Einstein famously said ‘’You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it’’
The key?
Taking the perspective that organisations and businesses are living organisms changes everything. It embraces the complexity of your world, integrates change, and builds resilience through informal networks and more. With that shift comes a plethora of tools and frameworks best suited for the truth of the context we are currently in, a lot of which are supported by complexity science, a topic I'll get into in another post.
Essentially, the gesture is to move away from a fixed mechanistic way of seeing an organization towards a living and resilient ecosystem. Where you learn to navigate 3 key landscapes: personal, cultural and ecosystemic to repair the harm that has been done and generate a new path for the generations to come.
Laura Strom and Gilles Huchins illustrate it brilliantly in their book Regenerative Leadership
https://www.regenerativeleadership.co/about-us
The invitation is to put on these truth-bearing glasses to bring upon a new era of Regenerative Business. Where people thrive, operate business consciously, lead with compassion and where our production is based on circularity and design inspired by nature.
One of the key reasons I started Cultivating Wholeness was to be part of shaping this era for the generations that follow - supporting leaders in their organization through the discomfort and the learnings of their creations and transition into a regenerative business.
One that is :
Life affirming - Enabling life to flourish
Ever changing - Embracing uncertainty and learning how to respond in complexity
Interconnected - Understanding the web of interconnection
Embeds diversity - Creating space for diversity
In tunes with the rhythmic and flowing nature of any life cycle and circular design of product
Living system - Seeing and engaging with your organisation as a living system to embed its resiliency and complexity
Where to start?
Start with where you are. Put on the truth-bearing glasses and begin to look at the world and your business as the living breathing organism it is. Invite your colleagues to do so as well.
When you're stuck, go outside. Look at the living organisms around you and take inspiration from the beautiful creatures that surround us. Nature is an organism with the longest R&D record. There is so much intelligence and wisdom in it!
This is only the beginning of a much deeper, nuanced and beautiful conversation. If this is something that interests you, stick around and join the newsletter! I’ll be writing more ideas on the topic. And in March, I’ll be hosting a webinar on “Organisation As A Living System” - I hope to see you there - Sign up !
Enjoy the journey,
