The evolution of business | Amanda Joy Ravenhill | TEDxTokyo 2014
Summary
TLDRThis script explores the concept of 'survival of the fitness' within ecosystems, drawing parallels to the evolution of social enterprises. It highlights Suzanne Simard's research on plant communication through mycorrhizal networks, suggesting a model of mutualism and interdependence that businesses should emulate. Social enterprises are presented as innovative solutions to environmental and social issues, combining social missions with commercial activities, and are exemplified by various global initiatives. The speaker advocates for a shift in business paradigms towards a model that fosters life and commerce, inspired by nature's principles.
Takeaways
- 🌿 **Evolution and Ecosystems**: Darwin's theory of evolution is often misunderstood; it's not about the survival of the fittest but the survival of the fitness within an ecosystem that determines a species' success.
- 🌳 **Plant Communication**: Suzanne Simard's research shows plants communicate and share resources through a mycorrhizal network, illustrating a symbiotic relationship with fungi.
- 🔬 **Mutualism in Nature**: The concept of mutualism, where both parties benefit from a symbiotic relationship, is highlighted as a key principle in nature's design.
- 💡 **Inspiration from Nature**: Biomimicry, drawing inspiration from nature for design, is a source of innovation and is central to the speaker's work as a social entrepreneur.
- 🏢 **Social Enterprise Defined**: Social enterprises are defined by a social or environmental mission and the inclusion of commercial activity, aiming to create both social and financial value.
- 🌐 **Global Impact**: Social enterprises are effective at solving environmental and social problems, often being more resourceful, innovative, and sustainable than traditional entities.
- 🤝 **Ecosystem Approach**: Social enterprises often adopt an ecosystem approach, partnering with various stakeholders to create shared value, akin to the mutualism seen in nature.
- 🌍 **Urgent Global Challenges**: The script highlights the dire environmental and social challenges we face, such as coral reef bleaching and climate refugees, emphasizing the need for immediate action.
- 🐣 **Humanity's Potential**: Drawing on Buckminster Fuller's analogy, humanity is at a pivotal moment, ready to stand on its own and learn to 'fly', signifying our potential for positive change.
- 🔄 **Business Models for Change**: The speaker outlines three business models for social enterprises: integrated, external, and embedded, each contributing to social impact in different ways.
- 🌱 **Rethinking Commerce**: The script calls for a shift in the current model of business, advocating for commerce that creates conditions conducive to its own sustainability, reflecting life's design principles.
Q & A
What is the common misconception about Darwin's theory of evolution?
-The common misconception is that Darwin said 'Evolution is determined by the survival of the fittest.' However, Darwin actually observed that it is the survival of the fitness within one's ecosystem that determines a species' success.
What is a mycorrhiza and how does it relate to the 'wood wide web'?
-A mycorrhiza is a symbiosis formed between plant roots and fungi, where both organisms benefit. The 'wood wide web' is a term used by Suzanne Simard to describe how trees communicate and share resources, such as carbon, water, and warning signals, through this mycorrhizal network.
How did Suzanne Simard and her colleagues track the movement of carbon in trees?
-They exposed a tree to a rare form of carbon, C13 and C14, in the form of CO2. The tree absorbed this carbon through photosynthesis, and they were able to track how it moved through the tree and the mycorrhizal network, even reaching other trees and species as amino acids.
What is the concept of 'mutualism' in the context of plant-fungi symbiosis?
-Mutualism is a type of symbiosis where both the organisms involved benefit from the relationship. In the context of plant-fungi symbiosis, mutualism refers to the beneficial relationship between plants and fungi in a mycorrhizal network.
What is the definition of a social enterprise?
-A social enterprise is defined by its primary social or environmental mission and its engagement in some form of commercial activity. It aims to create social value while also generating financial value.
How are social enterprises different from traditional businesses, nonprofits, and governments in solving problems?
-Social enterprises are more resourceful and efficient than governments, more innovative and collaborative than businesses, and more financially sustainable than nonprofits. They often take an ecosystem approach, partnering with various organizations to create shared value.
What is an example of a social enterprise that supports local women entrepreneurs?
-Zidisha in Kenya is a microfinance organization that supports local women entrepreneurs to start their own social enterprises.
What is the concept of 'integrated social enterprises' and an example of it?
-Integrated social enterprises are businesses where making sense (social impact) and making cents (financial gain) activities overlap. An example is Project Drawdown, which scouts the world for climate solutions and compiles this information into a book to sell, along with other programs, all aimed at creating a better narrative around climate change.
What is the goal of Hero Hatchery and how does it fund its activities?
-Hero Hatchery is a crowdfunded climate activist fellowship with the goal of creating influential climate activists. It funds its program by selling a low-fee crowdfunding service.
What is the 'embedded social enterprise' business model and an example of it?
-The embedded social enterprise model is where the social mission and financial activities are one and the same. An example is New Leaf Paper, which aims to halt deforestation by increasing recycled paper content, with every sale furthering its mission and increasing its positive social impact.
Why is the current model of business described as 'stealing the future'?
-The current model of business is described this way because it depletes natural capital and calls it income, causing environmental disruptions and extinctions. It's seen as selling the Earth's future resources to the present, which is unsustainable and harmful.
What is the vision for the future of commerce according to the speaker?
-The speaker envisions a future where all businesses are social enterprises, creating conditions conducive to both life and commerce, reflecting life's design principles and rebuilding systems of commerce to be sustainable and beneficial over time.
Outlines
🌿 The Evolution of Social Enterprise and Mutualism in Nature
This paragraph introduces the misconception about Darwin's theory of evolution and clarifies that it's about the survival of the fittest within one's ecosystem. It draws a parallel between this concept and the evolution of business, specifically social enterprise. The speaker, a businesswoman inspired by nature, explains how social enterprises combine social or environmental missions with commercial activities, solving problems more effectively than traditional entities. Examples of social enterprises like Zidisha and Stag Dining Group are given, illustrating their ecosystem approach to shared value creation.
🌏 Business Transformation Towards Interdependence and Sustainability
The second paragraph discusses the shift in business models from a survival-of-the-fittest mentality to one that embraces interconnection and interdependence, akin to an ecosystem. The speaker emphasizes the urgency of this shift due to impending environmental crises, such as coral reef bleaching and climate refugees. The concept of social enterprise is further explored with three business models: integrated, external, and embedded, each with its own method of intertwining social impact with financial gain. The speaker also critiques the current business model that depletes natural capital and calls for a biomimetic approach to commerce that fosters conditions conducive to long-term success.
🌱 Envisioning a World of Social Enterprise
In the final paragraph, the speaker imagines a world where all businesses operate as social enterprises, integrating profit with purpose. This vision is underpinned by life's design principles that have proven effective over time. The speaker concludes with a call to action for commerce to reflect these principles, suggesting a future where business contributes positively to both society and the environment, eliciting applause from the audience.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Evolution
💡Symbiosis
💡Mycorrhiza
💡Social Enterprise
💡Mutualism
💡Biomimicry
💡Ecosystem Approach
💡Interdependence
💡Climate Solutions
💡Natural Capital
💡Biomimicry Institute
Highlights
Darwin's observation that survival is not about the fittest but about adapting to one's ecosystem is a key insight for understanding species' success.
The evolution of business is paralleling biological evolution, with a focus on 'social enterprise'.
Suzanne Simard's research on plant communication through mycorrhizal networks reveals a complex underground symbiosis.
The 'wood wide web' is a term used to describe how trees share resources and signals through mycorrhizal networks.
Mutualism in nature, where both parties benefit, is analogous to the symbiotic relationship in social enterprises.
Natural selection is redefined by how well organisms fit into their ecosystem and care for their community.
The speaker, a businesswoman, is inspired by the principles of nature for her work in social entrepreneurship.
Social enterprise is defined by a social/environmental mission and commercial activity, creating both social and financial value.
Social enterprises are often more effective at solving problems than government, business, or nonprofits due to their unique approach.
Examples of social enterprises include Zidisha, supporting women entrepreneurs in Kenya, and Stag Dining Group, promoting local sustainable farms.
Social enterprises often adopt an ecosystem approach, partnering with various entities to create shared value.
The shift in business from a survival-of-the-fittest model to one of interconnection and interdependence reflects a new understanding of power in business.
The speaker emphasizes the urgency of adopting new business models to address impending environmental and social crises.
Buckminster Fuller's view of humanity as a newly hatched chick symbolizes the potential for a new beginning in our approach to business and the environment.
Social enterprise can be categorized into three business models: integrated, external, and embedded, each with different approaches to social and financial value creation.
The current business model is criticized for depleting natural capital and causing environmental disruptions, highlighting the need for a wiser approach.
The concept of biomimicry, learning from nature's design principles, is proposed as a way to rebuild commerce systems for a sustainable future.
The speaker envisions a world where all businesses operate as social enterprises, creating a positive impact on both society and the environment.
Transcripts
Transcriber: Reiko Bovee Reviewer: Mile Živković
You may think that Darwin said,
"Evolution is determined by the survival of the fittest."
When in fact what he astutely observed
was that it is not the survival of the fittest,
but rather, the survival of the fitness within one's ecosystem
that actually determines a species' success.
Through exciting new insights in the field of biology,
we are beginning to understand just how true this is.
And we are beginning to see how the evolution of business
is following a similar path, often called "social enterprise."
Suzanne Simard is an ecology professor at the University of British Columbia.
She studies how plants interact through the beneficial fungal network
that connects them below ground.
The plant roots actually connect to the fungi
and form a symbiosis known as a mycorrhiza.
Simard and her colleagues exposed a rare form of carbon, C13 and C14,
in a form of CO2 to a tree.
That tree then absorbed that carbon through photosynthesis
and they were able to track as that carbon went through the trees
down through this mycorrhizal network and up into other trees
and even other species of trees in the form of amino acids.
They also found that water and warning signals
also are similarly stealthily passed in this mycorrhizal network
she calls the "wood wide web."
This sort of mutualism is a symbiosis between plants and fungi.
When it benefits both, this sort of symbiosis
is called "mutualism."
Natural selection is not what we once thought.
We are not breeding for our own best fitness,
but rather how well we fit in to the ecosystem around us
and can care for our community.
It's time that we tune in to this new metanarrative
of the true nature of Nature.
The thing is, I am not even a biologist;
I am a business woman.
I am inspired by the 3.8 billion-year old innovation incubator
called life.
Being inspired by nature for design is called biomimicry.
And it's innovations in this field that fuel my work
as a social entrepreneur.
Social enterprise, short for socially beneficial enterprise,
is defined by two things: one, its primary purpose;
it's some sort of social or environmental mission.
And two, it has some sort of commercial activity.
Another way to look at this is that it makes sense
as it creates its social value,
and it makes cents, with a "C",
as it creates its financial value.
Social enterprises solve pressing environmental and social problems
with the tools of business and the efficiencies of the marketplace.
They are often more capable at solving problems
than government, business or nonprofit.
They are more resourceful and efficient than government,
more innovative and collaborative than businesses
and more financially sustainable than nonprofits.
Social enterprises take up many different forms
and are popping up all over the world.
There's Zidisha, in Kenya, which is a microfinance organization
that works with local women entrepreneurs
so that they can start their own social enterprises.
And there's Stag Dinning Group, a supper club in California
that works with local sustainable farms in order to support that growing network.
Interestingly, these social enterprises often take an ecosystem approach,
partnering with other organizations in order to create shared value;
their customers, their suppliers, even the competitors
are often better off by working with them.
This should sound familiar; it's mutualism.
The enterprise and the environment that it works within work together
in order to create a beneficial symbiotic relationship.
Business is shifting away from the "everyone for themselves" model,
the old paradigm of survival of the fittest,
towards a celebration of the interconnection and interdependence
that fuels life and business for that matter.
We are realizing the power of this interdependence just in time.
Business as usual - over the next 50 years,
we are going to see 95% of our coral reefs die from bleaching.
200 million climate refugees and our global GDP could drop by 5%.
We are realizing the power of this interdependence just in time
so that we can deliver our new discoveries
about the solutions for our world faster than ever
at a time when we need it the most.
My own view of where humanity lies on the timeline of life is borrowed
from my muse, Buckminster Fuller.
He said that humanity now is like a baby chick,
that has just hatched from its eggshell.
After using up all of our trial-and-error, embryonic fluid - our fossil fuels -
we now have everything we need in order to be a complete success.
It might seem like this is the end of the world,
when really this is just a beginning.
It's time that we hatch and stand on our own two feet
and learn to fly.
How are we going to do this?
I think that social enterprise is part of the solution.
There are three different business models:
there is integrated social enterprises,
in which making sense and making cents activities overlap,
utilizing commerce to fund social impact as part of a larger mix of programs.
My example here is a project drawdown, my latest endeavor.
We're scouting the world for the world's best climate solutions,
and we're compiling the best available information into a book
that we are going to sell.
We also have other programs like campaigns and curriculums
in a digital platform, all in the service
of creating a better narrative around climate change.
We need to move away from complacency and toward agency.
There's also external social enterprises.
This is a different business model in which the two activities are separate,
making sense and making cents.
My example here is Hero Hatchery.
It is a crowdfunded climate activist fellowship,
that my husband and I cofounded with the audacious goal
to create the Rosa Parks of the climate movement.
We created a very low-fee crowdfunding service
and we sell this service in order to fund our program.
My third example is the embedded social enterprise business model,
in which the two activities are one and the same.
My example here is New Leaf Paper, with the mission of halting deforestation
by increasing the amount of recycled paper content
within the paper industry.
With every sale it makes, it furthers its mission.
As its financial revenues increase,
its measurable positive social impact also increases.
Let's look at the current model of business.
As my colleague, Paul Hawken, likes to say:
"We are stealing the future, selling it to the present and calling it GDP."
We are depleting our natural capital and calling it income,
and, in the process, causing the 6th mass extinction,
global climate collapse and innumerable other disruptions
to our perfectly designed spaceship, Earth.
A wiser approach would be to grow capital in the present for all,
thus leading to stronger businesses in the future.
As Janine Benyus, the founder of the Biomimicry Institute likes to say,
"Life creates conditions conducive to life."
Don't you think commerce should create conditions conducive to commerce?
Shouldn't social enterprise just be all enterprise?
Now that we can clearly see life's design principles,
we can rebuild our systems of commerce
to reflect that which is simply proven to work over time.
What would it look like
if all businesses were social enterprise?
What a wonderful world that would be!
Thank you.
(Applause)
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