The pandemic makes us think about the kind of society we want for ourselves and our children. In our case, it wasn't the desire to denounce, to accuse, to let hope slip away, but rather this conviction that a new world is possible, desirable and within reach. So we got together, a small group of people we liked both professionally and personally, people of inspiration and human values, who were already working towards a better world.
The page was blank, but it became colored with all kinds of reflections and influences, around a few questions: what does the society we want to help create look like? What role do organizations play in it? What posture should we adopt? Slowly, clarity emerged on the parallel between the principles of life in its natural state and life in the man-made organizations in which we evolve or build as entrepreneurs. The principles of biomimicry have established themselves as the only path to human innovation. This is not a recipe, nor a moral lesson, nor do we make any demands of our governments, other than to support the emergence of responsible organizations, respectful and inspired by nature. This letter seeks to chart a course.
Since the new millennium, we've been entering a phase known as the Anthropocene, where human actions are having a global impact on our planet. Decoupled from the living, we have enslaved people and the environment to meet the needs of the economy. We're letting the rules we've set take precedence over those of nature. Our physical and psychological health is affected.
Fortunately, initiatives are emerging everywhere to turn things around. Using the economy to serve life. Inspired by the principles of life to guide their actions. We firmly believe that by following this paradigm shift, we can positively revitalize our economy, increase the resilience of our organizations, ensure a healthy socio-ecological transition and improve well-being.
According to the consensus of expert biomimicry practitioners around the world, there are six (6) major principles that enable life to persist in natural cycles:
1. Adapting to survive
2. Adapt to changing conditions
3. Decentralize decision-making power
4. Don't forget the development of each part within a growth framework
5. Be efficient and conserve resources
6. Use life-friendly chemistry
Each of these principles has the potential to guide our actions in beneficial ways. We live in a living world. What's more, we are part of the living. So how can we apply the principles of life to our businesses and our lives?
Organizations create the right conditions to evolve and survive: constantly optimizing processes, replicating successful strategies, developing the skills of their teams, establishing a culture of innovation, stimulating creativity, finding new partners, relying on cooperation and multidisciplinarity, questioning and redefining their purpose. Is your organization constantly developing its own capacities for adaptation and resilience? How does it contribute to the strength of its ecosystem (suppliers, communities, etc.)?
Organizations need to be attuned to the world in order to adapt and propose responses to new realities: resource scarcity, climate emergencies, psychological insecurity, the diversity of people's needs, new social and ecological expectations on the part of consumers, suppliers, students and future employees, etc. How does your organization ensure that the products and services it markets really do improve people's lives and the planet's situation?
In this way, individuals and teams perceive, communicate and act in a coordinated way to accomplish their mission in the best possible way, in a healthy working climate and with confidence in everyone's expertise. Within the organization, decentralized powers enable those closest to the impact of decisions to collectively suggest solutions to problems, and thus gain in creativity and efficiency. Does your organization develop the capacity of its teams to make local decisions, and establish feedback systems as close as possible to its operations to optimize processes? Have you established a working climate that encourages open, sincere and respectful communication? Are your subsidiaries and branches connected to the needs of local communities?
To survive, organizations must ensure that their development (and not necessarily their growth, which is not a condition of life) takes place in a coordinated way at all levels of their structure and in coherence with their ecosystem. Optimal growth occurs when each part of the system is healthy and contributes to the health of the others, as well as to the whole. Does your organization promote the development of each of its departments, its value chain and the communities with which it interacts? Does it ensure that every employee, client and stakeholder develops and uses his or her unique talent in a collective perspective of impact? Does it ensure that it makes a positive contribution to its ecosystem and its resilience?
Living systems work with the minimum of matter and energy possible, while respecting the planet's capacity to renew its resources. For an organization, this means exploring multiple circular economy strategies and starting to regenerate ecosystems through its activities (e.g. regenerative agriculture, which revitalizes soils and captures greenhouse gases while producing food). Does your organization use recycled materials? Does it plan its processes so that its outputs can be reused as raw materials, by itself or others, in a circular economy dynamic? Does it design in a multifunctional way? Does it use low-impact, locally-sourced energy? Before buying a new good, does it evaluate the possibility of renting, sharing or using an existing good?
Nature only generates by-products that it is capable of transforming or absorbing naturally in natural cycles. Does your organization design exclusively from simple, healthy elements, non-toxic to living organisms and consistent with the reuse cycles of elements and materials? Does it plan and design in such a way that the various components and materials of its products can be easily separated for reuse or recycling at the end of their life cycle? Does it contribute through its activities to restoring the Earth's capacity to provide services such as clean air and water, arable land, etc.? When you think about it, this principle is also applicable to knowledge and organizational culture, which should help generate the best for the humans who use, disseminate or receive it.
In conclusion, you should know that these great principles, which govern life, are perfectly applicable to our organizations to increase their resilience. They are an integral part of the philosophy and practice of biomimicry. This approach is becoming increasingly popular here and around the world, in all spheres of society and all areas of business. After all, nature is a living laboratory several billion years old, and what you're trying to invent has probably already been invented. Just open your eyes! We are convinced that there is immense potential for transforming our way of thinking towards models that are consistent with the principles of life, which will benefit us all.
This reflection is only the germ of what could become a movement towards a revolution in our organizations. It is imperfect and calls for dialogue from all those who wish to contribute. There are a number of questions that call out to us, including the following:
- How can we be inclusive and value diversity?
- How can we frame our humanist values so that individual interests are subordinated to the common good?
- This approach is fully supported by The Natural Step and the Donut Theory, but how does it fit into existing frameworks such as B-Corp and the UN's SD goals?
We'd like to create the right conditions to make this vision a reality, and bring practice together to life right away. Are you interested? Join the conversation...
From left to right: Thibaut Allibert (Ellio) - Maxime Baril (Quintus) - Esther Dormagen (Ellio) - Thierry de Greef (Nonante) - Alexandre Joyce
Moana Lebel (Institut de biomimétisme) - Nathalie Nowak (Imfusio) - Marie Rousseau (Ecoprocessus)
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