Regenerative businesses for the future

What are regenerative businesses and how are they different?

Regenerative businesses try to move beyond sustainability and seek to actively restore the natural and social systems they operate in.

So far in Ethical Consumer's Challenging Corporate Power series, we have looked at a variety of different ways for businesses to operate. 

For example, in the "Imagining a world without corporate power" we shared a dream for a world without for-profit corporations as we know them. We imagined a society whose services are held by charities, mutuals, co-ops, not-for-profit enterprises, and the state.

We then discussed how converting existing businesses to such co-ops and social enterprises might be a good way to get there. And we have also begun exploring the idea of reforming corporate behaviour by putting other stakeholders like nature, workers, and campaign groups on company boards.

Although these reformed legal structures, by design, can reduce the risk of environmental and socially damaging practices and can play a role in democratising supply chains and redistributing power, there is a danger of viewing these structures through rose-tinted glasses and seeing them as the answer to all our problems.

After all, most of us will know of co-ops who have not been very co-operative, social enterprises that have been exploitative, charities that have broken the law, and state-owned enterprises that have polluted their communities. 

This is because these less-damaging business structures have also been shaped by and operate within the capitalist system we live in; they too have constraints, and they too have ideas around “best practice” that stem from dark histories.

More than just a different structure

Understanding the culture alive within these non-traditional structures is important. As part of my work with Ethical Consumer and Lush on the Spring Prize, I learned about the idea of regenerative business and regenerative organisational design.

It then took a year-long course with nRhythm (see box below) around regenerative organisational design for me to fully understand the importance of looking beyond legal structure. 

I also learned about the judgements I can sometimes place on certain forms; and to understand how these forms are merely a tool that can serve a specific function. And just like any tool, you need the right tool for the task at hand.

My attention has since shifted to understanding organisational culture and health (no matter what the structure), and the role this can play in supporting more regenerative cultures to emerge and, ultimately, in challenging corporate mis-power.

What is culture and why is it important?

Culture can be defined in many different ways. From “culture is the way we do things around here!” through to “culture is the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, that encompasses not only art and literature but lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs” (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

Cultures are learnt and experienced.

They are shaped by the people, social norms, and practices that surround us, including what conversations are had (or not) and what is celebrated (or not). They are also dynamic and can change over time. A culture can shape us and our health, and we too can shape a culture.

The cultures in our work places, homes, and communities can shape how we perceive, reflect, and ultimately reimagine the world around us; and how we communicate, interact, and care for one another and the earth. Whether intentionally created, or unintentionally allowed, organisational cultures shape the potential for what can become – including how we challenge corporate power.

In a previous article I mentioned the importance of redistributing control and decision making toward local, collective interests. Doing so facilitates cultural shifts away from the idea of passive consumers or workers, and towards being creative, active co-owners, land stewards, decision-makers, and citizens who directly challenge the concentration of wealth and influence that arguably defines corporate power.

Understanding and discovering the living cultures that already exist in our organisations and the values, principles, beliefs, processes, and histories that have shaped these is an important starting point for intentionally seeking to shift them.

How to intentionally shift a culture?

If we see cultures as emergent, we need to understand and gain clarity on the values, expectations, processes, systems, and infrastructure that are shaping a specific organisation’s culture. It’s only then that we can start to think about how we change these in order to shift a culture and support organisational health.

The following steps offer suggestions for doing this whilst also drawing on elements of nRhythm’s regenerative organisational design framework.

Step 1: Observe and understand the context you are working with.

Discover and make explicit the living culture within an organisation and try to understand why an organisation behaves as it does. Try to make visible the invisible. 

To support this: do a culture audit or an organisation health survey, observe how an organisation is running. How does information flow around an organisation? Are people motivated by the organisation’s work?

What is an organisation’s foundational beliefs (why does it do what it does, and how does it do this?)

Step 2: Are things aligned?

Once you have greater clarity around what already exists, question:

• Are current systems and the organisational culture healthy?
• What are the uncomfortable conversations that are needed to be had around power?
• Does the current organisational culture reflect employee/members’ values?
• Is the culture aligned with the organisation’s deep purpose, values, strategy, and structure?

It might be helpful to get trainers, external facilitators, and advisors in to support this and the first stage.

Step 3: Propose changes and monitor them.

Create space for intentionally designing for and implementing change where things don’t appear to be aligned. What works for one organisation might not work for another.

Try small and slow solutions that have people’s backing and make sure you have ways to monitor how things are going (including unexpected outcomes!)

Step 4: Integrate feedback

Build in regular moments to review how things are going and to respond to feedback.

Embedding regular organisational health surveys can be helpful in doing this.

The steps above take time, require commitment and willingness to adapt and change. They also require leaders to embody the changes being proposed and to be willing to respond to feedback when they don’t.