On growth and degrowth
Degrowth still seems to be an unwelcome topic for many people. And yet, if we want to continue to live on this planet, we can’t keep growing like we have been. It’s like eating and eating until you pop. It’s not sensible.
I’m not affiliated with the degrowth movement and I’m not particularly attached to the word but I am convinced that we need to slow down and consume less. To connect to what is meaningful for us and find ways to make time for it.
When I started to scale back the business in 2019, people said, ‘But how will you grow?’. At the time, the idea of not having to juggle running a small business and doing HR and admin felt like a huge relief.
They couldn’t see that I had gone as far as I wanted to with the scaling part and I didn’t need to keep growing. For some, I was a traitor to even consider that less could be more. Yet growth just for the sake of it is meaningless.
I was happy to reduce the size of the operation so I could focus on working with clients where my journalistic lens on credibility brings real value and helps get their work out into the world. And supporting the community where I could.
Everything has its time — scaling up, scaling down, building, refocussing. In aiming to have a more simple life and focussing on where I can make a difference, I have effectively been on my own degrowth journey.
I am very conscious that I am talking about ‘less is more’ from a place of privilege where my basic needs are met and much more. And that is sadly not the case for everyone.
There is an opportunity for us to look at our lives and our work and see what we are chasing and if it aligns with our values and the change we want to make. To start having the conversations at home and in our communities about how we want to live and show up for each other. And to refocus our work and our leadership on more regenerative ways of working.
I’m currently working on a Regenerative Leaders programme. Drop me a line if you would like to know more when it launches.
