Editor鈥檚 Note:

Companies are living systems, says Michelle Holliday, author of 鈥淭he Age of Thrivability.鈥� Cultivate the right conditions for growth and the whole will be more capable than the sum of the parts. The interview is conducted by Caryn Hunt, a writer and editor at getAbstract.

Q: In your book 鈥淭he Age of Thrivability鈥� you say businesses must look beyond survival to 鈥渢hrivability.鈥� What do you mean?

A: At the most basic level it鈥檚 the ability to thrive, as the word suggests. It鈥檚 an invitation to make that our intention and our practice, so that the state of being able to thrive is not a single point in time, or a single goal that we can say, 鈥淣ow we鈥檙e thrivable,鈥� and we can quit and go home, or get a prize, 鈥淣umber One, Most Thrivable Company.鈥� It鈥檚 really not about that. It鈥檚 much more about orienting ourselves around life鈥檚 ability to thrive, most of all, and then committing to that practice. I talk about thrivability as the informed intention and practice of enabling life to thrive, or of cultivating the fertile conditions for life to thrive. Informed, because if we鈥檙e going to create those sorts of conditions, we have to know: What does that mean? What does it take? So, we have to develop some level of understanding of how life works and how that shows up in our organization, and then set it as our intention.

And we don鈥檛 right now. We don鈥檛 have life鈥檚 ability to thrive anywhere in our scope of intention in our organizations, or even in government and society.

I talk about deepening our wisdom and compassion and ability to sense what鈥檚 needed, and respond with effective action; it鈥檚 an individual and a collective practice.

Q: How is efficiency in organizations sometimes at odds with creativity and innovation?

A: Efficiency in itself is a good thing. But when that is the goal, then we get into trouble. When that becomes the priority, it cuts us off from the qualitative aspects of our aliveness, of our organization鈥檚 aliveness, and our project鈥檚 aliveness, the community鈥檚 aliveness. Cuts us off from information that isn鈥檛 necessarily quantitative. And it channels us into thinking that speed is the most important thing. But sometimes life needs time and space. Very often life needs time and space, especially when what we want is creativity and innovation.

We almost always need to create the time and space for sensing what鈥檚 truly needed, and that鈥檚 not always the fastest, that鈥檚 not always the smallest use of time and resources. So part of the practice of deepening in wisdom is to recognize when efficiency is what鈥檚 needed, and when it鈥檚 counterproductive. This drive for efficiency is rooted in a reductionist, mechanistic, individualistic worldview. That鈥檚 the dominant worldview in Western society right now. 鈥淭he Age of Thrivability鈥� that I write about carries forward that worldview, but integrates it into a more comprehensive and wiser worldview. It鈥檚 asking from a search for wisdom: What is the efficiency that鈥檚 needed so that we can make the best and wisest choices? We still want that, but how can we put it in service of the wisest course of action for all life? This is all part of the reframing of efficiency in order to get more innovation and creativity, in other words, more of life鈥檚 ability to thrive.

Q: How can I begin to start thinking of my business more holistically in terms of living systems?

A: This is a great question. I find examples from nature are sometimes helpful to see the characteristics of living systems in our organization. Lately I talk about soil a lot. We鈥檙e starting to understand how important soil is. We depend on it for our existence, for our lives, and it鈥檚 in trouble. We only have 50 or 60 growing seasons left. Soil regeneration is the most powerful way to sequester carbon and counteract climate change. People are starting to realize soil is important. At the same time people, scientists and farmers are starting to understand how soil works and to understand that it鈥檚 not an inert thing. It鈥檚 not that the farmer grows the plant with his or her chemicals and heavy equipment, which is the mechanistic, reductionist view that we鈥檝e had for the past 100 years, but instead, we鈥檙e starting to understand that soil is a living system and that the farmer can really only cultivate the fertile conditions for life to do what it does. That鈥檚 a helpful metaphor.

In my book, I go into the detail of the four patterns of living systems and how they鈥檙e present in soil. We鈥檙e starting to understand that there鈥檚 so much biodiversity in soil, like in a tablespoon of soil there are so many organisms, it鈥檚 like stars in the galaxy. It鈥檚 an insane amount of diversity in soil. We know that鈥檚 fundamental, that鈥檚 critical to its thrivability. We know that those microorganisms work with the dirt, which is just minerals, non-living material, and they secrete what this one scientist calls 鈥渟nots, slimes and glue,鈥� which is kind of funny. With those secretions, they start to aggregate the minerals in a way that creates passageways through which they can interact with each other and through which air and water can circulate, so that鈥檚 the structures and patterns of their interaction, their relationship.

Q: Briefly, can you outline these four patterns?

A: So, in the patterns of living systems, we鈥檝e first got the diverse parts. Then we need patterns and structures of interaction. When there鈥檚 enough diversity and there鈥檚 enough interaction and flow of the microorganisms and of air and water and other resources, then this thing happens that another scientist calls 鈥渜uorum sensing.鈥� Quorum, in a human meeting, is when you have enough people present that you can make a decision and take action. In soil, when they sense they鈥檝e got the right conditions, then they have this phase shift where they鈥檙e no longer just a crowd of microorganisms and dirt. Now they are acting together as soil. New capabilities and characteristics emerge. We see the ability to hold water, which doesn鈥檛 exist when it鈥檚 just microorganism-centered, and to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and grow plants. All of these things happen at the level of the whole living system that is soil.

The farmer can鈥檛 make it happen. The farmer can鈥檛 manage it and control it, but he or she can support it and collaborate with it, partner with it. Any living system will always be more elegant and more complex, more capable than we can ever control. This example of soil is a useful one for organizations to understand those patterns. We can clearly see them in organizations, and remind ourselves that it鈥檚 really about supporting that elegance and grace and self-generating ability to develop new capabilities and characteristics. Even beyond two heads are better than one, or the whole is more than the sum of its parts. It is, but it鈥檚 also a whole different thing than the sum of its parts.

Q: But it sounds messy, and maybe you need to have a greater tolerance for failure?

A: Yes, it is messier. It does require a different mind-set and approach. What we鈥檙e starting to understand is that the lack of mess is not really viable. In gardening and farming, the mechanistic and controlling approach involves tilling the soil, digging it up. That destroys those structures that the microorganisms have created. Another thing that we do is put in lots of chemical inputs, and that depletes the soil鈥檚 fertility. It鈥檚 like a drug addiction. We have to keep putting more and more inputs, and that gets more and more expensive for less and less output.

It鈥檚 leaked out from our organizations. It鈥檚 the whole society鈥檚 way of operating. The parallel to chemical input that is actually depleting the soil鈥檚 ability to thrive, the parallel in our organizations is that urge to control. It diminishes and depletes the human spirit, essentially. Toxic work spaces, stress and tension, and lack of meaning. All of it comes together. And we鈥檙e getting burned out. Do you see that too?

Q: Yes, I do. Some companies are very 鈥渃ommand and control,鈥� and it can be soul-crushing.

A: Exactly. I appreciate this connection that we鈥檙e making, too, between the depletion of soil and the depletion of the human spirit. In organizations we see that toxic workplaces and toxic cultures and 鈥渃ommand and control鈥� are soul crushing. And in broader society, there鈥檚 this steady increase year-over-year of what鈥檚 called 鈥渄eaths of despair.鈥� So, it鈥檚 death from alcohol and from suicide and from other addictions. You have to pay attention to that trend.

Q: You mean we need a hopeful view of the world and how companies can contribute to a better future?

A: Exactly. And you talked about how this sounds messy and I was thinking, all of the deaths of despair, that鈥檚 messy. It鈥檚 not as if we can get away with avoiding the mess. It鈥檚 going to come. Life is messy. So, we really can鈥檛 fool ourselves into thinking we can control it all and mechanize it all. The mess will come, so a wiser approach is to learn to participate in it and cultivate it and channel it.

Michelle Holliday is a strategy and change management consultant focused on helping companies cultivate the fertile conditions for creativity, resilience and thriving.