The Shifting Horizons Spiral

Impact Businesses and leaders lack the Imagination and Capacity to realize the regenerative transition.

The business-as-usual mindset, stifling regulatory frameworks, mechanistic organization structures and current education system have squandered the much-needed perspectivistic flexibility and ability to imagine and go beyond What Is.

Dominant Worldviews

The biggest blocker of change and regenerative transformations is the to this day dominant mechanistic, controlling “business as usual” worldview. It has shaped our thinking, behaviours and businesses for over a century. It's fundamentally misaligned with the wider natural world and the logic of life. The question is. Why prolong a dying system when you can align with the logic of life and empower the transition to a better, more resilient and regenerative future?

Stuck to “what is”

The rat race of today’s society is stifling our ability to stop what we are doing for long enough to come up with a truly better alternative. A deep transition isn't ignited by DOING, it mostly means stopping, reflecting, acknowledging what is, and imagining what if.

"The inability to imagine a world in which things are different is evidence only of a poor imagination, not of the impossibility of change." Rutger Bregman

Regenerative capacity gap

Nearly 9 in 10 people want a more sustainable and equitable world. 87% of people are disengaged at work. Only one in eight employees globally have green skills and 68% want green skills training.

Imagine how the world can be when we people feel they have agency. When they feel empowered to experiment, fail and (un)learn.

The Shifting Horizons Spiral

The transition we are facing as a society, as individuals and as businesses is so profound and all-encompassing (a tricky word for literally including everyone and everything), that we can’t even grasp the size and impact of this Shift. Scary? Yes! A huge opportunity to find our way back to our essence, humanity and inner child? Also yes!

We have gotten so used to the mechanistic worldview that we are scared to let go, scared to move away from the status quo. Scared to attempt anything that can’t be measured. Scared to move away from the metrics and KPIs that have steered our thinking and doing for so long.

Because then what?!

How can we possibly let go of the structures that support our thinking, doing and collaborating for so long, without exactly knowing what’s next? Drown in the abyss of uncertainty and aimlessness?

We can’t jump from today’s reality straight to a regenerative future. You can’t jump from a business-as-usual mindset straight into the Regenerative mindset. It’s a journey. It's a spiral and every loop will take you further away from Business as usual, and closer to Regeneration.

The spiral allows us to be kind to ourselves. To understand and accept that it is a transition that takes time. There are countless beliefs, organisation cultures, business models, stories and structures that need to be re-imagined, re-invented and in many cases gracefully composted.

The ten best practices to become a regenerative organization don’t exist. Neither does a cookie-cut cut clear and actionable roadmap. This transition requires us to lean into the uncertainty and break down the existing structures to create the space for radically different alternatives to emerge.

The Shifting Horizons Spiral is designed to guide regenerative transformations whilst holding space for uncertainty, imagination and transformative movement.

UNLEARN - From WHAT IS to WHAT ELSE

Truth is not a constant. What was true before, isn’t today, and what is true today, might not be tomorrow. Any change in truth passes three stages.?(Arthur Schopenhauer)

First, it’s ridiculed.

Then it’s violently opposed.

Lastly, it’s accepted as self-evident.

Have you ever tried planting a tree on a paved road? You probably haven’t because it obviously wouldn’t work. The seeds can’t sprout because of the thick layer of solid asphalt which blocks any form of movement. Unlearning means breaking open this road, it's the process of clearing away liming stories, thoughts and assumptions. Unlearning frees our thinking, seeing and feeling opens up alternative pathways.

Unlearning is the process of consciously identifying and deciding which beliefs, assumptions, habits and stories no longer serve your purpose. It is the ability to replace old and no longer useful thoughts, methods and ideas with new ones that fit a thriving future.

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ” -Alvin Toffler

IMAGINE - From WHAT IS to WHAT IF

Imagine what would happen if we stopped holding back our ideas because we are afraid they sound 'unrealistic'. What if we shared all ideas, even the ones that don't seem to fit into our current world? What if we allowed ourselves to sound unrealistic, childish, silly, dreamy? What if we rediscover the power of thinking in WHAT IF not WHAT IS?

If we can put a human being on the moon, we surely can realize regenerative societies and life in harmony with nature. This way of living is 384.400 times closer to our essence than it is to wander around the moon. What hope for a better future are you holding back?

TRANSFORM - From WHAT IF to HOW MIGHT WE

How Might We embrace the regenerative lens as our decision-making and transition compass? Shifting Horizons is a fundamental and all-encompassing transition and each smaller, more actionable transformation helps us further on this journey. Focussing on the big transition can be stifling and overwhelming. Focussing on transformations makes the transition accessible and actionable. Each transformation brings us one step closer to a Regenerative Future.

Imagine transforming, with the Regenerative Lens as your decision-making compass:

• The partnerships in your supply network
• The interactions with customers (Better yet, Citizins)
• Your mission, vision and purpose
• Your business model
• The way meetings are organized
• Your hiring process
• The relationship with stakeholders
• The dominant metrics & KPI’s
• The maternity and paternity leave policies
• The role of employees
• The leadership structure of your organization
• Your governance model

The list goes on… Which transformations are you currently exploring?

The Regenerative Lens

The future of life on earth depends on the ability of humans to shift horizons and truly embrace and embody the regenerative lens. Just thinking about new worldviews isn't enough, we need to get up, get out, explore, connect, unlearn, rewild and rewind. The Regenerative lens is formed in the buzzing, living, symbiotic dynamics between all life on Earth, the question is, how do we, humans, find our way back into this dynamic?

It isn’t as easy as just putting on a pair of green glasses and viewing the world through the lens of regeneration. But once you see through this lens, it’s impossible to unsee, impossible to stifle your desire for change and oppress your dreams for a radically different and better future.

This is a lens, a way of seeing that can’t be captured in books. It requires us to let go of control, experiment and transition one belief, project, business, or community at the time. We can only do this together, collaboratively, driven by curiosity and kindness. Regeneration is a journey and every step is a lesson that will last you a lifetime.

Where are you on your journey?

• Totally fed up with Business as usual but feeling stuck?
• Curious about what regeneration in business means?
• In love with the Regenerative Lens but not sure how it can be the decision-making compass of your organization?
• Hmm. No, I am….. (Please drop your thoughts in the comments?)