What if Care was a Business Strategy?
It was a long path to realise that care is an excellent business strategy, and this journey began in an unlikely place: law school.
My time in law school was rather heartbreaking. It was obvious that the law was written by those in power for the benefit of those in power. Under the guise of ‘law,’ horrible atrocities have been, and continue to be, committed. It’s no secret that the dominant legal system actually supports environmental destruction in the name of profit, resulting in our current poly-crisis.
Studying environmental law was…not inspiring. I saw senior attorneys at top-notch environmental law firms, all wicked smart and passionate, being given hand tools to build skyscrapers in every case. Coming from an activist background, my instinct was to change the system from within. And I started asking myself: how can we transform law into a healing practice?
The answer changed how I saw business.
I couldn’t help myself. I went back to school, again. What can I say? I just love having a seemingly endless amount of resources at my disposal, from theory to practice—because the two must be properly connected.
The Questions of Care were developed in a thesis paper, based on an international survey of Indigenous legalities, bio-cultural values, the forces that shaped our dominant legal system, and how the law functions in practice today. The biggest gap is the relationship between humans and Nature; essentially, Western law doesn’t account for Nature at all. That’s why environmental harm has so long been considered an ‘externality’ off of business spreadsheets and why Environmental Impact Assessments look for an ‘acceptable’ amount of harm in proportion to economic gains. But what has this resulted in?
Law has shaped modern business: incorporation, governance models, ethics, by-laws, charters, policies, and decision-making processes. And the law has said, go forth and make the greatest profit, at all costs. Western society in particular prides itself on being rational, not emotional. When profit is the end goal, it is not rational to care.
But in the long run, care is the best business strategy.
Through care, a business is able to maintain a long-term vision: turnover is low because employees are happy, productive, and not burning out or leaving for better conditions. There is public trust and loyalty because the business keeps its promises about quality and sustainability. Moreover, the planet isn’t destroyed, which of course would mean no business. But in the shorter term, a business that cares is a business that is regenerative from start to finish; this ensures resilience when challenges arise, from political upheaval to pandemics to supply chain issues.
There is a theory, gaining both evidence and popularity, that care is the fabric that holds society together.
Naturally, the same can be said for any group, whether a community or a business. Care is what connects people, what makes us want to collaborate and work together; evolutionarily speaking, it’s literally the only way we have ever survived.
And that’s when it hit me, all those years ago. My thesis was about transforming law, but my tool was for everyone because care is universal.
With six simple questions, we can explore the big picture of how our business, project, or legislation fits into ecological and social contexts. Only from that baseline of understanding can we then consider how to create mutually beneficial relationships. This is the beginning of the healing process. These questions are place-based, to bring awareness to the unique history and current circumstances in which decisions will have an impact; thus, exploring the answers is what tailors this tool to each situation. The answers will point to needs, harms, voices that should be heard, and to a collaborative approach for meaningful solutions. No one can provide one-size-fits-all sustainability practices, because that’s not place-based or nature-based; that’s top-down. The Questions of Care ask us to be horizontal, cyclical, equitable, relational. Who wouldn’t want to support a business like that?
If this resonates with you, you can download the standalone Questions of Care Methodology Guide or join my Leadership for the Ecological Era professional development sessions, which include the tool. Dates vary, see my Luma for upcoming events.