Finding Balance: Inspired by Nature

Creating better conditions for growth.

In modern business, we’ve created a bit of a monster. Like an inanimate beast that constantly needs to be fed, it demands neverending attention.

What if we remembered how it all happened and took inspiration from something more natural? Maybe it could be more about creating better conditions for growth, and less about aggressive hustling.

History Tells a Story

Today’s business giants didn’t invent business. The entrepreneur did.

Alright, I’ll add a little asterisk next to that one because there has been some debate about the definition and context used in research on the topic of entrepreneurship. I’ll venture to say that it starts with one person having an idea, identifying a need or opportunity, and growing it into a business.

Look at the history of societies and early trade. Many thousands of years ago modern humans traded for survival, practicality, and community. We depended on each other for skills, shared resources, and bartered to meet any other needs.

The markets of ancient history were central to communities. Traders provided goods and services, giving buyers more options to consider for choice and comparison.

The trade eventually transitioned from resources we could use to various forms of currency, which was a little more convenient to carry around. (On a side note, it’s kind of cool that people would agree that a clamshell, or two, was worth whatever it was traded for at the time.)

What Nature Can Show Us

I’ve noticed a recurring theme in many business-related books. The word ecosystem is repeated again and again. What does it mean?

Despite a possible cost at our own expenses, people, and other living things for that matter, have an actual desire to help each other out. The same goes with naturally occurring networks that share resources when one has an abundance and another is in need. Collaboration makes all those involved that much stronger.

We are successful because we are adaptable. It’s not a fluke that living species who have survived and thrived through changing or difficult times have managed because they found ways to cope and adjust accordingly.

Considering all the interconnected systems that exist in nature, it’s hard to unsee the direct connection to business once it comes into focus. Weather systems, the web of life, seasons, and water cycles all form patterns and operate in relation to each other and the elements within.

“Systems Thinking has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing “problems” as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific part, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences.”

Environment and Ecology, 2022

If these general ideas can be examined and applied, like the ingredients of a recipe, it stands to reason that a business can gain valuable knowledge about the necessities needed to grow successfully.

Creating A Different Kind of Business

A theory exists, suggesting that business is natural, and very human. It doesn’t need to feel forced, aggressive, or lead to burnout. (I realize this might sound completely nuts because it goes against the hustle culture so often glorified.)

It’s not necessarily the most powerful businesses that will win in the spirit of “survival of the fittest”, but the most adaptable businesses. Look no further than the behemoths that fell in recent times for proof.

We depend on each other and cooperate to meet our needs. We experiment, learn, explore, and discover not for ourselves but to share, and develop. To be better we participate so we can adjust when needed, prepare ourselves for challenges, and build stability in order to thrive when conditions might be less than ideal. This is resilience.

“Like an individual species in a biological ecosystem, each member of a business ecosystem ultimately shares the fate of the network as a whole, regardless of that member’s apparent strength.”

Iansiti and Levien, 2004

By looking at business as a whole, rather than the sum of its parts, and how it fits in the greater world or community, you can start to see how the pieces connect. Rather than an organization, it becomes a living system.

Starting at the roots, the things that create the foundation on which to grow, the starting point and source of nourishment drawing from its surroundings. The same in a business does so with frameworks, processes, and connections to people, cultures, and communication.

What does this say about the opportunities to create better conditions for growth?

We aren’t machines. I am not a robot. Those are tools that can be useful but should not be confused with people. Start there, and grow a business with a purpose, that leaves room to breathe.

Step 1: Make a Decision

Learn more about making decisions with peace of mind and room to breathe. Sign up for the Smart Business Kit email series which includes helpful worksheets you can download.