A natural kind of stability

Photo credit: Hat Creative on Unsplash

This week I’m in London, catching up after a few months with family and friends. The cycle of the seasons is much more visceral in this northern climate than at home in Italy, and I’m noticing an unexpected sense of disentangling energetically from the country where I grew up. It’s a strange sensation because I actually left the UK more than 20 years ago, with a few forays into a possible return along the way. But a land of great beauty, food and warmth in every way has always lulled me back.

So this sense of cultural roots gently pulling themselves up from a soil I have not cultivated for a long while, and finding greater nourishment elsewhere is most definitely curious. And not exactly comfortable.

Winter is almost here as I write. A squirrel is busy gathering future sustenance among the last golden leaves of the bushes in the urban garden I can see through the window. I feel my own living system beginning to turn inwards, seeking deeper rest, a time for fallow body and spirit while an overactive mind constantly tells of all that needs to get done. As I enjoy the sweetness of vanilla and cardamom in a flavourful tea, the heat of cinnamon and cloves also spread a joyful glow around my body. I suddenly have renewed energy to work through the tasks of the afternoon.

We’re finding our ways through the new territory of a recently-formed partnership and developing a regenerative business - aptly named Regenb - from all that we have done before. It’s not exactly starting from scratch, since we have decades of practice, experience and knowing. We also have connections and stronger relationships, plenty of creative juices and a good splash of support. Inevitably though, moving into the operational details, getting them done in ways that feel authentic and life-giving and deliver the results we want, can easily become overwhelming, especially when I feel tired. It’s only Monday. In theory, somethings should be much easier when there are only two of you, but if there is one thing we human beings are good at, it is creating complexity. The ways in which we show up to any situation, particularly those we find tedious or difficult, determine what is then possible in the spaces between us. In simple terms, we often make things much more difficult than they need to be.

Photo credit: piranka 2019

On a call this morning, I was reminded of a recent research study carried out by Harvard Business Publishing (Corporate Learning). The report looks at how the work of leadership development fits into what organisations need to do today and the impact of fast-moving changes in the world beyond the door on this multi-billion dollar industry. Only 57 global organisations are widely considered responsible for accelerating the rate of man-made climate change and with the onslaught of AI to maintain competitive advantage across the board, businesses and institutions are among the best opportunities we have for still bringing forth a world that is fair and sustainable.

A piece of data that caught my eye in the HBP report was about business-related projects in 2024. Automation and machine learning topped the list, but a strong organisational culture and capacity for innovation, informed by an improved ability to anticipate volatility came before sustainability (ESG) compliance. Put differently, the reliance on technology is ubiquitous, and the human needs for being able to use that technology wisely and effectively are considered more urgent and important than the demands of international regulations. That small but steady, vital signal gives me hope - the meaning of my name.

Organisational culture is relational, it happens in the spaces between us. Like the golden bushes in the garden here, it grows healthily when the soil, sun, rain, air, nutrients, organisms and a certain amount of human care are able to combine fruitfully together. That implies it is not created through big investments in elaborate engagement plans, collaborative tools and models, or inspiring individuals and events. Instead it arises naturally from good preparation of the soil - in this case, values, capacities, interests, shared priorities and resources. We are wise to nourish that soil through adequately wide and deep sensemaking, exploring the issues that emerge, playing with possibilities of how to address them and dialogue to find the ways forwards. Walking with integrity, building trust and developing capacity are essential expressions of human care that will guide the budding culture like a gardener’s loving hands.

And before we can even consider how to establish those kinds of good conditions for any kind of organisational culture to grow and flourish, we would do well to look at ourselves. We are living systems, a fractal of the whole, all different, all similar in how we respond to things, especially those we don’t like or worse. We don’t have to lean into every difficulty to become as resilient as an SAS operative, which is certainly way outside my personal comfort zone. Or preach to the world that ‘we are one’. There is much evidence to suggest otherwise.

Instead we can become more at ease in ourselves, clear in our intentions and what is important to us, willing and able to speak honestly and transparently, rooted like a tree in strong winds. In my experience, it’s a question of practice and commitment to that practice when life gets tougher so that we may flow through constrained spaces and onwards, with the cycles of life.

Stability as flow.

How is that possible?

If this has got you curious, please join us from 9 January 2025 for a sensory experience of some essential ways to create greater stability in your organisation and an introduction to how you can take them into your workplace.

Thank you for reading.