NATURE IN THE BOARDROOM
Giving Nature a “seat at the table” changes everything. Never mind she actually brings the boardroom table, the building, sun, stars, water, food, air and you! To be clear, I’m not talking about bringing guilt over the climate and environment to the boardroom. I am talking about opening our minds and business processes to Nature’s influence and perspective.
Today, we are bombarded with subliminal and obvious messages that we don’t need Nature or that we are somehow other than Nature or that Nature is merely a backdrop to the marvelous or chaotic human drama. Or maybe Nature is just the scenery on your commute. And, a lot of us seem to believe the message that we don’t need Nature. Afterall, the average American spends less than 2 hours outside in a week!
Every green plastic plant is a message that nature is optional … an artificial substitute will satisfy. Every single use water-filled plastic bottle is kind of the same…disconnected from the loop of life. These bottles are ubiquitous in business.
Our own calendars and schedules leave Nature locked out. The list goes on and on, silent subconscious declarations that we don’t really need Nature or that we are not part of Nature are everywhere. Everywhere. The time to reverse this trend is now.
How You Think About Nature Is How You Think About Yourself
To be able to do what you want to do, you must first be able to think like you want to think. How do you want to think about Nature? At a minimum we can put living flowers and plants in our boardrooms. Consider taking your meeting outside. Occasionally make a natural setting your boardroom. The creativity, imagination and innovative thinking may surprise everyone at the table.
The natural world holds an amazing capacity for connecting the dots in the human mind when it is open.
