The Practice of Flourishing
A growing practice of flourishing can be identified in the thought-leadership of key organizations as well as in the practical, hands-on activities of some businesses and communities. In a way this represents a vast expansion of the Quality of Work Life (QWL) initiatives in the later part of the 20th century to the forms of organization which organize our current work lives. Even more significantly, this represents an extension to the communities and ecosystems which contain these efforts and the lives of people and Nature within them. These Quality of Life efforts are captured in the term flourishing and are reflected in the integrated efforts that are part of it.
The Era of Job Diagnosis and Design
The approach utilized in the past of focusing on the motivation and satisfaction of employees within a particular organization, while valuable, has become outdated. This is not to say that it is no longer of importance. Nor, is it to say that factors utilized in the past as part of an assessment of work and jobs are no longer valid. To some extent, many of these factors have become baked into current practices. These are factors such as skill variety, autonomy, feedback about work and use of teams. However, today's world is radically different from the world of 1975 when Hackman and Oldham first published their findings about job design.
In addition, ideas about participation in job design which were new in the 1970's have since become embedded into the participative practices of job crafting.
The Contemporary Discourse
We now need to be looking at expanded value chains and value networks in assessing the kind of jobs that people have. Organizations are beginning to be held morally, if not legally, responsible for labor practices in their value chains. Beyond this, conversations are now occurring about clusters, ecosystems and even bioregions as the purview of assessment.
The language of job motivation and satisfaction has become a discourse about employee wellbeing. I believe that the latest evolution of this is the idea of flourishing. And, significantly, the discourse is not being limited to employees of a given organization, but is being extended to those in their value chains and in the surrounding community or ecosystem as well. For this flourishing to occur, multiple factors in the local and global ecosystem have to be considered touching on breathable air, sustainable water, adequate food, CO2 emissions, and various forms of equity. Beyond these, there is also an increasing conversation about non-human flourishing as well.
Creating Shared Value
Michael Porter has been writing about "creating shared value" which reflects a wider scope of attention. His perspective represents moving beyond a singular focus on economic activity as the driver of corporate success. Porter points out that we need to recognize that improving the social conditions of workers and communities can also be an important driver of both the company's success as well as improved conditions in the community. (Porter, M, Kramer, M, "Creating Shared Value," Harvard Business Review, 2011)
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's)
The larger discourse of flourishing is very much tied up with the sustainability movement. The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals recognize that wellbeing and flourishing touches a variety of aspects of life and not just human life. The inherent assumption to this is that progress on any one goal requires progress on other goals.
For example, progress on goals of Decent Work and Economic Growth (#8) requires progress on Good Health and Wellbeing (# 3), Quality Education (#4), Gender Equality (#5), Zero Hunger (#2) and Clean Water and Sanitation (#6). This is an inherently integrated approach.
One Planet Living Principles
Other approaches also help to add to this discourse about flourishing. Oneplanet.com lists Ten One Planet Living Principles including: Health and Happiness, Sustainable Water, Zero Waste and Local and Sustainable Food. Oneplanet supports entities and communities who are developing plans around one or more of these ten principles.
The discourse about flourishing involves the identification and definition of desired qualities and an integrated way of implementing, measuring and reporting the attainment of these qualities. Measurement is of importance in a business context and in making the case to funders and citizens about progress.
Multicapitals and Integrated Reporting
The multicapital approach goes beyond the Economic, Social and Environmental goals of a triple-bottom line approach to posit five types of capital which can be accounted for. While the focus in this multi-capital approach is on capital rather than goals, this does reflect a wider purview of what to consider in the creation of value. It also stresses the importance of an integrated way of thinking, doing business and reporting.
The providers of financial capital are interested in the value an organization creates for itself and the value it creates for others while it is affecting the value the organization is creating for itself. This assesses value over various time frames. It enables looking at the interdependencies and trade-offs among capitals as part of a business model tailored to the external environment as value is created, preserved or diminished.
The specific delineation of capitals can vary. For example, the breakout below does not have a separate category for Intellectual Capital which others do include.
These types of capital are:
- Natural: Air, land, water, minerals, flora, fauna, ecosystems and other natural biophysical resources that humans and non-humans rely on for their well-being;
- Human: Knowledge, skills, experience, health, values, attitudes and ethical duties;
- Social and relationship: Teams, networks and hierarchies working together and their shared knowledge, skills, experience, health and values;
- Constructed: Material objects, systems or ecosystems created by humans;
- Economic: This can be internal or external. Internal financial capital refers to the pool of funds available to a company, including debt and equity finance. External financial capital consists of all funds available to parties outside an organization that a company can choose to access.
The capitals need to be set out in an integrated reporting structure. This avoids the either/or dilemma that has been part of modern day business: profit or people; profit or the environment. This reflects that an enterprise operates in a world of complex supply chains and business relationships and ongoing technological change all of which is within planetary boundaries.
With respect to planetary boundaries, value is interpreted by reference to thresholds and parameters based on evidence about the carrying capacity and limits of resources on which stakeholders and companies rely for wellbeing and profit. One consequence of this is that problems like the disposal of waste or CO2 emissions and their cost cannot be externalized and exported to other parts of the value chain or the globe.
Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics sets out an insightful approach to both the carrying capacity of the planet in different areas as well as areas where inequities are suffered by groups of people on the planet.
Wilderness Safaris and the 4 C's
Another interesting application can be found in the Harvard Business School case, "Wilderness Safaris: Ecotourism Entrepreneurship," where the business sets out their own multi-pronged and integrated approach to company value. (Austin, J, 2018). The company calls this the 4C's. The C's are: Commerce, Conservation, Community and Culture. These are described in terms of impact on multiple levels of system: the individual, the corporate entity, portfolio of businesses, the community and national levels. All of this is discussed in the business case and the various annual reports with regard to the ecotourism context of Wilderness Safaris at various sites in Africa.
Both in the very tangible plans set out on the Oneplanet.com website and in this business case, flourishing can be seen to have a very tangible, concrete and measurable aspect to it though sometimes the measures are qualitative narratives of progress.
The Wilderness Safaris case raises the issue of what it takes for a business enterprise and its stakeholders to flourish. Is it possible and if so, what mechanisms will enable this? What values provide a foundation for this. And, how could we apply these approaches to our own lives, organizations and communities?
I believe that the discourse of flourishing inheres in the many conversations in which the business model of Wilderness Safaris was set and implemented, in the feedback and measurement that evaluates the actions of this company and in the lives of people in the relevant ecosystems.
In pursuing this, here are some specific questions about the case to consider:
- What is the Wilderness Safaris business model and its key elements?
- Is the 4C framework working for WS? Are the 4 C's aligned with one another or in tension? How has WS gone about balancing them?
- How essential is integrated reporting to WS's approach?
- To what extent has WS and its stakeholders flourished under its business model and 4C approach? How does the business model support this? (Looking at stakeholders including: communities, clients, staff, ecosystem - nature, wildlife, government and investors.)
- Based on all of this, do you have some ideas for a theory and practice of flourishing for your own business, life or community? How do you imagine that this would motivate the participation of your stakeholders?
