The Regenerative Business

Self-managed development—the source not only of true human development but also of inspired and inspiring business—is the new frontier in the evolution of work design. It is also the focus of the systems regeneration approach.

Through the leveraged instruments of collective work and accumulated capital, a business enables its members to be powerfully effective agents for systemic change. It provides them with a platform for engaging in enlightened disruption.

work has to do with helping people express their true natures. There are four external conditions that need to be present for this personal growth to occur: • Opportunity • Autonomy • Sense of purpose • Support for the process

A successfully applied conscious shock challenges familiar routines and shakes people out of their comfort zones. Yet it does this without introducing any sense of threat to their identity or position. Rather, it connects them to the essence of who they are, as individuals and as a company, and to the essence of their customers.

It’s scary to promise to take on something important that you don’t know how to do, but it’s worth it because it clearly makes a difference for real people. And it’s possible for me because I’m part of a team where everyone is stretching in the same way. That creates an amazing environment of mutual support and challenge. I’m already looking at wha

tested concepts and guidance for creating a work design that enables you to attract and keep great people, generate extraordinary financial returns, and contribute to a better society.

a developmental change process creates conditions in the form of bold, disruptive initiatives, while supporting the development of the capabilities people will need to successfully pursue them.

For a regenerative business, financial effectiveness comes from effectively managing both top-line growth and bottom-line returns. The aim of regenerative work design is to shift a business’s orientation away from selling more of the same product to more new customers to becoming the industry leader in product and service development for a fiercely

a third stream of thinking explored the implications of theories of complex living systems for work design. This approach made systems regeneration its primary concern and considerably broadened the focus of work design to include the improvement of all of the multiple, overlapping socioecological systems that a business is part of. This provided t

As part of the work design, each individual commits to making an extraordinary contribution and is given the support needed to carry through on that promise. This is a condition of employment. As a result, a regenerative business moves from making incremental improvements in what exists to making radical breakthroughs in brand new territory.