Workplaces as Habitats

Workplaces and The Wild...what can we learn?

I've spent my whole career working with change; from corporate change programmes to designing & delivering workplace transformation and now supporting individuals, teams and organisations with change through whole-health lead coaching. Change really is the only constant and it's fair to say the workplace is seeing a lot of it lately!

I find workplaces and organisations fascinating. I think they can play a pivotal role in society; a metaphorical meeting place for human potential & wellbeing, businesses, communities & impact and the built & the natural environments. When I think of workplaces I don't see a physical space. I see an organisational ecosystem and the habitat(s) it operates within...

Ecosystem: a community of living organisms in a particular area. An ecosystem is a community of organisms and their physical environment interacting together.

Habitat: the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism - their optimal or preferred surroundings.

At its core an organisation is a group of people interacting. Organising around certain goals, projects, activities and tasks. It's an ecosystem of people, each with their own qualities, experiences, skills and perspectives and, much like an ecosystem, the state of the whole is dependent on the state of the individual parts but also the quality of their interactions and health of their interdependence.

Workplaces are habitats with the potential to support a thriving ecosystem. But, like any ecosystem, when the optimal conditions aren't present the ecosystem doesn't thrive. Some species may adapt to the sub-optimal environment but often at a cost to the healthy characteristics and behaviours or to fulfilling their potential.

Equally, when an ecosystem is out of balance, the habitat it exists within is impacted. Aspects can be under or over utilised and the two cease to exist in harmony.

For business leaders today, creating the right workplace (habitat) for their organisation (ecosystem) can feel overwhelming. The complexity and cost of designing and delivering the end result (an office) understandably pulls most of the focus.

I believe there's an opportunity to design more optimal workplaces by approaching the whole process with an Ecosystem-Habitat approach and spending a little time understanding the ecosystem, it's current health and it's optimal conditions.

Lead With Health does this through a creative & coaching-led process that facilitates a holistic understanding of your organisational system (ecosystem) and develops a strategy for creating & sustaining the conditions where it thrives - a blueprint for your habitat!

If you're a business leader thinking about your workplace or professional who helps create workplaces we’d love to chat about how we can support the process.