Human-Centered Business: A Return to Nature
“How varied are your works, Lord! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” (Psalm 104: 24).
Returning to Nature
There has been a recent uptick in conversations surrounding the return to natural living and natural work. Specifically, in my media consumption of both Christian and non-Christian sources, I’m seeing more and more discussions taking place about why humans should resist the transhumanism movement and reconnect with the natural.
Most of these conversations call for a complete rejection of technology consumption, connecting to and conserving land, building small businesses and therefore rejecting the mass globalization of health care and food systems, and instilling mindfulness into household tasks such as sweeping and cooking.
Wendell Berry is a leading voice in this movement and a strong activist for the protection of rural communities and the conservation of American lands. Through both fiction and nonfiction, he foretells the decline of our nation’s culture as a result of the decline of small, rural, agricultural communities. His warning is not one of doom and gloom but of hope in the revitalization of truly human living, community-building, and work. Some of his biggest supporters have gone on to open butcher shops that support small ranchers and work on policy to protect wild land in the west.
New Polity, a media organization aimed at constructing a Christian postliberal worldview (and that is followed by many young men in Catholic seminaries), recently released a podcast episode about the to construct local economies with the goal of becoming less dependent on massive global forces for basic necessities, such as milk. One of the major takeaways? Buy two acres and a cow, and farm the land, for it is holy to do so.
It is certainly inspiring to tune into these conversations and dream of a simpler world, where one could walk to the butcher for tonight’s dinner before dropping off the empty glass milk jars that were delivered before dawn from the local dairy farm. The aesthetic is beautiful, and I consume more homesteading media than I ever thought possible. I think many of us desire the nostalgic and the natural.
Searching for “Good Work”
Although moving to a rural community to homestead is not an option for many of us, we can take lessons from this movement to help bring the natural into our everyday life and even into business. As women especially, we are uniquely equipped with the ability to recognize another person’s humanity and understand the movements of their soul without much study. Research shows that women are more empathetic to others’ pain than men, “because [we]really understand your predicament, your emotional state.” It doesn’t have to be a nostalgic or naive wish to desire more humanity and greater connectedness in our communities.
Wendell Berry makes a strong argument for connecting to the earth through “good work,” which he defines as the “giving of honor.” In his essay “Conservation and Local Economy,” he writes that good work:
honors the source of its materials; it honors the place where it is done; it honors the art by which it is done; it honors the thing that it makes and the user of the made thing. Good work is always modestly scaled, for it cannot ignore either the nature of individual places or the differences between places, and it always involves a sort of religious humility [emphasis mine], for not everything is known.
As Catholics, we can understand this necessity for religious humility. In the workplace, it means knowing that our successes are not our own but God’s. Not everything is known, but what is known is that God gives us graces. Similarly, humility means understanding that our workplace failures do not necessarily reflect our shortcomings but sometimes reflect a “no” or a “not yet.”
As leaders, good work is holiness in the management of teams, resources, and growth. It is the recognition of an employee as an individual with a soul who has hopes and dreams, not a producer who can be evaluated by metrics and output alone. Perhaps we can make an extra effort to meet with our colleagues one on one to get to know them better.
If we manage a team, our personal investment in each member of our team is similar to how the conservation movement seeks to protect and invest in the lands of our communities. As a manager of a medium-sized team, for example, I try to extend humanity to my team with a generous policy about taking time off or leaving in the middle of the day for a child’s appointment or graduation.
Good work is also the mindful awareness of space through the maintenance of God’s sacred gift to us: this earth and its resources. Whether we are working remotely or working in an office, it’s important to cultivate a healthy work environment in our physical places. If we are entrepreneurs, good work could be the use of local goods to support a local supplier rather than relying on an anonymous source of materials from who knows where. It could be the patronage of a family-owned restaurant for lunch near the office instead of a frequenting a global chain.
It could also be the prioritization of hiring and training a local college student for your marketing needs instead of using a consulting service from another country. This is not to say that having internationally-based employees or consultants is a bad thing (it could very well be better for your business model). Still, the investment in people who reside within your community is a more natural and human endeavor. Post your business needs in your parish bulletin, and see what happens!
Human-Centered Business in Action
Examples of success in balancing business with the natural may be difficult to find, but it is possible. I am still struck by an interview with Patagonia’s founder and CEO, Yvon Chouinard. Though I’ve never personally owned a Patagonia fleece, I relate to his approach in building a sustainable brand that prioritizes its employees, the environment, and the customer. His philosophy centers around the idea that “profits happen ‘when you do everything else right.’”
We do not have to completely reject technology and farm two acres of land to remember this fundamental truth: Humanity matters more than profit. As Catholic women, let us use our unique talents to remind the business world of this truth. Let us create a workplace culture where employees can grow and God’s work can flourish. Let us also create moral and physical environments where communities can be built and sustained. As the Psalmist reminds us (Psalm 104:13-15, 24):
You water the mountains from your chambers;
from the fruit of your labor the earth abounds.
You make the grass grow for the cattle
and plants for people’s work
to bring forth food from the earth,
wine to gladden their hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread to sustain the human heart.
… How varied are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Margo White lives in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania with her husband and two dogs. A lover of the elderly and healthcare, and inspired by St. Catherine of Siena's care of the sick, she works as Healthcare Coordinator for the senior population to help them age-in-place. Margo spends her free time reading, planning travel adventures, and learning new things - her new favorite is skeet shooting! She can be reached at margohwhite@gmail.com.