Growing up I saw business as the art of solving problems. It was the alchemy of turning human need into creation, transforming impossibilities into reality. It was the quiet work of hands and minds crafting solutions, of dreams unfolding into something tangible. But today, the rhythm has shifted.
Now, the language of business has been stripped down to metrics, efficiencies, and quarterly returns. The human element—the stories, the relationships, the deeper purpose—has been traded for short-term gains. The system no longer asks, What does the world need? but rather, What can be extracted/gained? Growth is no longer about deepening roots but about relentless expansion, often at the cost of the very people it was meant to serve.
The consequence? A model that devours its own future. The pursuit of profit at all costs has led to a disconnect—not just from people, but from the very essence of business itself. Products are designed to be obsolete. Work is structured for burnout. Innovation often means finding new ways to keep consumers dependent rather than empowered.
But what if we remembered? What if business returned to its original role—as the weaver of possibility, the solver of real problems? What if profit became the echo of something greater, rather than the goal itself?
This is not nostalgia; it is an invitation. An invitation to create businesses that are not just efficient, but wise. Businesses that understand they do not exist in isolation, but in a living system of interdependencies—where what is extracted must be regenerated, where growth must be measured in depth, not just width.
To return to this, we must unlearn. We must move beyond the transactional mindset and into one of relationship between businesses and the people they serve, between the present and the future, between what is profitable and what is meaningful.
Business is not about consumption. It is about creation. It is not about ownership. It is about stewardship. And if it is not here to solve problems and make dreams possible, then it has no reason to exist at all.
Some inquiries to challenge our assumptions and spark reflection on the role of business:
1. What if business was measured not by profit margins, but by the depth of problems it truly solves?
2. How did we arrive at a point where business thrives by sustaining problems rather than solving them?
3. What happens to a society when its businesses prioritize short-term gains over long-term wellbeing?
4. If a business is not contributing to the future, is it stealing from it?
5. What would business look like if it were designed to nourish rather than extract?
6. How would leadership change if businesses were built around relationships rather than transactions?
7. What if innovation wasn’t about capturing markets, but about setting them free?
8. In a world where businesses shape culture, what culture are they creating?
9. If businesses were seen as living systems, how would they be designed differently?
10. What does it mean to be responsible not just for a company’s survival, but for its impact on humanity and the planet?
With these questions I would like to invite you to a shift in perspective, moving beyond business as usual and toward something more intentional, more alive, toward ReNEWBusiness. Reflect on them alone or with your colleagues, let me know how it goes.
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The true teachers of our time are not the loudest voices, but the ones who move with clarity and purpose. The ones who ask, What is the true cost of this path? and What else might be possible?
If that’s you—let’s find the answers together. Have a look at RNEWB services. Don’t be shy, reach out. For more info about my work have a look at RNEWB and all Artful-Programs.
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