Quick Intro to Regenerative Business
And How You Can Get Started As A Leader To Build A Life-Affirming Organization
Many of us are struck by burnout, growing more cynical about the state of business and the world, and questioning whether all the recycling we do is truly making an impact (apparently it’s not). In a previous essay, I shared my realization about the impossibility of continuous, exponential growth when it's dependent on limited natural resources. Not to get all depressing, but in some ways, our economy operates as a giant pyramid scheme, with natural resources at the base, from which value is extracted and passed further up the chain.
But think about it, our economy is a system we designed. It is an abstract idea, governed by rules created and affirmed by people. As immense and complex as it may seem, systems can be redesigned—and at the core of this change is how we create, design, and manage our businesses.
Enter Regenerative Economics and Leadership
Regenerative economics is about measuring and managing our global resources in a way that not only avoids depleting them but regenerates them for future use. (Side note: The term ‘economics’ comes from the Greek word ‘Oikonomos,’ meaning the management of the household. So, when we talk about our global economic system, we’re really discussing how we manage our global home. Kate Raworth calls this out in her work on Doughnut Economics, offering a great introduction to regenerative economics.)
Regenerative economics flips the script on the purpose of our economic system. Instead of incentivizing the depletion of finite resources, valuing scarcity, and designing market mechanisms that extract value, it promotes the care of natural resources, values abundance, and fosters businesses that regenerate ecosystems.
This is the vision of the economy of the commons, wherein resources fundamental to our well-being, like water and land and forests, are commonly held rather than commodified. Properly managed, the commons approach maintains abundance, not scarcity. These contemporary economic alternatives strongly echo the Indigenous worldview in which the earth exists not as private property, but as a commons, to be tended with respect and reciprocity for the benefit of all (Kimmerer 2013).
How do businesses play a role? Organizations are one of humanity’s most creative inventions, allowing us to achieve complex tasks that individuals alone could never manage. They are central to how we live and work, acting as a bridge between our individual behaviors and global economic systems. Organizations are where many of us spend the majority of our time and effort, and they can also be powerful expressions of individual and collective creativity and culture.
Recognizing this, organizations have an essential role in creating life-affirming conditions for the renewal of the ‘logic of life’ (Hutchins & Storm 2019).
Organizations modeled on living systems shift away from rigid, mechanistic hierarchies. Living systems are agile, vibrant, resilient, responsive, innovative, diverse, and regenerative (Hutchins & Storm 2019).
This shift requires leaders to first adopt a new mindset. Regenerative leadership begins with fostering self- and systemic-awareness, recognizing both our individual emotional, intellectual, and sensory experiences as well as the complex dynamics within our organizations.
Scarcity and plenty are as much qualities of the mind and spirit as they are of the economy. Gratitude plants the seeds for abundance (Kimmerer 2013).
Getting Started as a Regenerative Leader
Regenerative leadership begins with ourselves and how we navigate our lives and the ecosystems we inhabit. Becoming a regenerative leader starts with identifying the life-affirming reasons why we collaborate within an organization. As individuals:
To take care of ourselves and our families
To learn new skills or develop our talents
To connect with amazing people and build meaningful friendships
To pursue a personal or collective mission and make a positive impact
Etc.
Questions for Reflection:
What are the life-affirming aspects of your work? Why are you motivated to do what you do? What about your work practice brings you joy?
What drives your team members, stakeholders and collaborators?
Where are there opportunities for greater alignment between the life-affirming needs of individuals, and the mission and objectives of your organization?
Regenerative leadership is about recognizing these seeds of motivation—for both ourselves and our teams—and cultivating the dynamic capabilities that promote individual and collective growth, ensuring that we all thrive.
Onward.
Further Reading:
Hutchins, Giles & Storm, Laura (2019) Regenerative Leadership: The DNA of life-affirming 21st century organizations. Wordzworth.
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. (2013) Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants. Milkweed Editions.
Raworth, Kate. (2017) Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist. Chelsea Green Publishing.