What's Next
Regenerative systems go through regrowth that has roots, literally! Trees take root in the ground and their history and resources are shared throughout the forest, whether that’s through the fungal networks that connect trees or insects that make their homes in the trees. Ecosystems change and adapt but there is also a grounding that is different than how I've experienced change in the workplace. We often leave places unrecognizable, made completely new, without traces of what came before, but there are still roots and memories of the past as a system regenerates. It builds on top of what has come before and leaves traces of what was and guides for what is to come.
Throughout my research, I have hoped that my perspective would be widely held and applied throughout a team or organization. Although the original intention of this project was personal development and enrichment, I lost sight of this initial purpose and hoped for my work to be universal. Ironically, this “universal” mindset was what I had hoped to combat. I cringed at the notion of narrowly defined ideas of success and value within a team or organization and started this project in hopes of centering individual needs when defining success and value in the workforce. Yet, I found myself chasing a universal approach.
During my project, I encountered many moments similar to this one, where I found myself not embodying these principles and values that tie back to nature. Although there were moments of personal disappointment, I was comforted to have these principles to come back to to reorient myself in my work.
Coming back to the root systems that ground a forest during periods of regeneration, I believe that this analogy can hold at an individual level as well. Organizations should not forget their history and interconnectedness as they go through change, and this should happen for individuals as well. As I think about sharing this framework more broadly, I hope that people can find value in my work while staying rooted in their own values and personal mission. This framework is not meant to uproot the forest, but instead meant to support and encourage healthy, sustainable growth. I have learned a lot from having had time to put these principles into practice which leads me to ask myself, "What's next?" (Why, thanks for asking!) Here are some of my thoughts on how organizations can build a more regenerative future.
Time
My grandmother died recently, and as my brother and I made arrangements to return to Atlanta to be with family, his coworkers told him "to take all the time that he needed." Hearing this repeated over and over again and watching him struggle to balance being with family with the meetings that stayed on the calendar, I wondered what would it look like to give people time? What if my brother's team or manager had just told him to take the week off and then helped to clear his schedule? Sometimes it is hard to ask for time when the momentum of a week, a day, a project is so clearly moving in one direction. It is hard work for a fish to swim upstream, but if a dam is put in place, then the current, and the fish's ability to swim, changes easily.
Decentralized Power
During the pandemic, meetings became more present in my life. Without the considerations of a commute or people needing time to get from one place to another, people (myself included) started scheduling meetings back to back and earlier and earlier. The alway-on nature of living on my laptop definitely contributed to more meetings, but I also think that the virtual nature of our school lives compelled people to want to check-in and align more. I remember many moments where I was hesitant to coordinate via email or slack out of fear that people would forget to respond. Group project required more consensus when there were fewer informal ways to check-in and get a sense for what a teammate could and were interested in taking on. With less in-person connection, how do groups and individuals highlight their strengths, interests and availability? At some point, meetings happen at the expense of people having time and space to actually do their work and be valued as a contributing team member. What would it look like to meet less and give people more time to work and live outside of their computer?
Trust
At a previous job, I applied for an internal role where I would've worked with more senior-level people at the company. This job also would have been a promotion. I didn't get the job and in a follow-up conversation with the hiring manger, I was given the feedback that while I had strong project management skills and experience, I didn't have the relationship building experience of working with people more senior than myself. While the feedback was valid, (I did mostly work with people who were at a similar career stage) I still wonder why this hiring manager was not willing to give me a chance in this role. I had started my career at this organization and grown over time; could she trust me to take on this job with new expectations and allow me to grow into it? In past work experiences, I've seen people choose speed over growth. It's often easier and more comfortable to match people's past work experiences to upcoming projects and responsibilities, but what if we trust people in working relationships and allow them to grow into new skillsets and responsiblities instead of always giving work to the more obvious choice?