What is the unlikely connection between “the need for growth”, Moderation and abundance?

The race and pressures for growth in our workplaces will continue to grow but at the same time they will also increasingly strain our personal, organizational and planetary boundaries. What if we were to explore a new formula for success founded on the unlikely combination of moderation and abundance?

“It is incumbent upon them who are in authority to exercise moderation in all things. Whatsoever passeth beyond the limits of moderation will cease to exert a beneficial influence” (Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, CX, p. 215)

Moderation, one of ebbf’s seven core values could be seen as a hindrance to the fast pace of growth and innovation the world around us seems to demand. However a closer look at the concept of moderation can help us to understand the powerful opportunities that lie untapped.

Let's start to explore two complementary applications of Moderation: doing less and using less.     

Doing less

Doing less might be very good for you and your organization. There is a wide area of research that confirms how being moderate in what to expect from a team, on the amount of time spent “in the office” can actually increase the productivity of each individual and of the team as a unit. For example in Sweden “The Svartedalens experiment” where a six hour working day was introduced is giving evidence of the benefits of reduced working hours. “Nurses who worked six-hour days for the past year were found to be 20 per cent happier and had more energy at work and in their spare time.” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/six-hour-working-day-sweden-boosts-productivity-and-makes-people-happier-a7023741.html

But also within our current working hours we can benefit from moderation. Instead of taking on a list of ten projects, let's settle for a rule of three, and only pick three projects we will focus our attention on. That our own personal to-do list limit to three things and strictly stop there.

The result of setting that limit is that we will not be overwhelmed and paralysed by the usual never ending list of tasks that need taking care and which actually make us very inefficient and stressed. We will have more energy to handle those few actions and be able to raise the excellence of those few tasks, areas for improvement , or key projects.

Same goes for the outcomes of those all too often demotivating annual appraisal dialogues. Why not limite to an absolute maximum of three areas for improvement, ideally selected by the appraised person, thus adding the motivation of autonomy to that of moderation.

Using Less

a conscious effort to be moderate and minimise the amount of resources required for any given product or service that our organization offers will results in other practical benefits.

Besides the obvious environmental benefits of our resource-reducing decisions, we should add a consciousness and sense of value to society. People working hard to actively reduce unnecessary materials and resources will feel a higher purpose and motivation to feel good about the organisation they work for.

A certified #BCorp consultancy firm limiting the working hours of its staff such as Mas Business activates a sense of value, with their team ensuring that every single minute of that limited time offers the highest of standards.

Furthermore, imposing a zero email policy whilst on holiday ensures a totally refreshed team upon its return to the workplace.

Working hours moderation also reduces pollution, According to a report from the US Center for Economic and Policy Research ( https://cepr.net/documents/publications/climate-change-workshare-2013-02.pdf ) , “reduced greenhouse gas emissions go hand-in-hand with shorter working hours for a variety of factors including lower levels of consumption”.

Moderation in pay and earnings

This is another factor higlighted “in a meta-analysis by Tim Judge and colleagues. The authors reviewed 120 years of research to synthesize the findings from 92 quantitative studies. The combined dataset included over 15,000 individuals and 115 correlation coefficients.

The results indicate that the association between salary and job satisfaction is very weak. The reported correlation (r = .14) indicates that there is less than 2% overlap between pay and job satisfaction levels. Furthermore, the correlation between pay and pay satisfaction was only marginally higher (r = .22 or 4.8% overlap), indicating that people’s satisfaction with their salary is mostly independent of their actual salary.” https://hbr.org/2013/04/does-money-really-affect-motiv

Can being moderate in the use of resources really allow us to be successful?

Still the feeling might be that we still do not have the necessary resources to achieve the targets that our organization aims to achieve, so what concept of abundance can liberate us and allow us to reach those goals?

What are the unlimited practically unlimited resources we can make use of?

The Creativity, the Values, the Development of Talents, Motivation are just a few of those signs of abundance that far too few organizations dedicate enough time to highlight, nurture and develop. Pushing ourselves and our organizations to innovate and find better ways to moderate our use of resources whilst increasing our success, will do a great deal to develop even further those abundant talents. In fact that should be the imperative of an ideal enterprise as this quote reminds us:

“global enterprise which enables all individuals to fulfill their dual purpose, namely to develop their inherent potentialities and to contribute to the betterment of the wider community” ( Rethinking Prosperity: Forging Alternatives to a Culture of Consumerism ) https://www.bic.org/statements/rethinking-prosperity-forging-alternatives-culture-consumerism

It is clear that moderating our use of personal and planetary resources leads to a better life, organization and planet.

I am now very curious to learn and hear from you: what was your own experience in introducing this concept in your organization? What happened when you implemented moderation in your organization? Remembering that moderation is not about limitations and suffering, instead a liberating and motivating way to be as this quote reminds us:

Let them act with moderation and not impose hardship upon themselves. We would like them both to enjoy a life that is well-pleasing. (Bahá’u’lláh, Huqúqu'lláh, p. 20)