What I’ve Learned From Working in a Post-Growth Organization
How a culture of vulnerability, asset-based approaches, long silences, and more have rippled out into my relationships — in work and beyond.
A friend recently told me she appreciates how I always answer the “How are you?” question honestly — because it makes her feel safer to do the same. When I look back and reflect on this shift towards openness, I notice how it’s happened slowly, almost undetectably, over time.
I started working with the Post Growth Institute almost five years ago, and at first was taken aback at the organization’s internal culture. For a while it made me quite uncomfortable — simply because I’d never experienced anything like it, in a work situation or elsewhere.
Showing up as you are
The first thing that struck me was the focus on personal check-ins at meetings. Rather than the usual, “I’m okay, thanks,” PGI team members take time to share how they are actually doing: excited, exhausted, anxious, hopeful… and often share a little bit about what’s going on in their lives that might be feeding into their mental or emotional state. It took me a good few months, perhaps even a year, to get comfortable with this approach. Now, though, it’s second nature. Being honest with myself and others about how I’m feeling in the moment has strengthened my relationships with colleagues, but also given me tools to do the same among friends and even with my partner.
In my experience, when a space is created that encourages you to show up as you are, you feel more able to speak your mind. If I have an idea, I’ll share it, even if I’m unsure if it’s any good. If I don’t like an idea, I’ll speak up and say why. If I feel unsupported or overwhelmed, for whatever reason, I’ll let my peers know. My colleagues do the same. The other side of this coin, another part of what makes it possible, is that at the end of each meeting we reflect on what we’ve learned, the colleagues we appreciate and why. Even if the meeting is running over, or if we’re not finished with a task, this part remains — it’s by prioritizing the relational element that we are able to move forward smoothly. What’s more, by rejecting the corporate culture of reducing people to their productivity, we’re living and modeling a post-growth approach to work.
When a space is created that encourages you to show up as you are, you feel more able to speak your mind.
Grounding into wisdom
At the start of each meeting, before the round of check-ins, we always practice a short grounding exercise, led by one of the participants. It’s about using breath and awareness to drop into your body and connect with your wisdom — not just your mind but also your intuition. We want to feel into things, not just think about them. The idea is that a more holistic conception of knowledge is appropriate for the work we’re doing — we try to rebalance the usual corporate approach of ruthless rationality. This embodied approach also allows us the time and space to see how we’re feeling and showing up to the meeting, and directly informs the personal check-ins that follow.
A more holistic conception of knowledge is appropriate for the work we’re doing.
Asset-based approaches
Yet another aspect of the PGI’s culture that I love now, but found uncomfortable at first, is the asset-based approach. In basic terms, this just means we start with what’s working. In terms of our culture, it means you tend to get a lot of praise! As mentioned, we prioritize showing our appreciation of each other — and we’re not shy about it. For me this is important because it reveals where I’m adding value to the organization, and it gives me the confidence to expand on those things. Likewise, it makes receiving feedback much easier, because I can take comments on board without taking them personally.
The asset-based approach helps reveal where I’m adding value to the organization.
When working with other organizations, the asset-based approach has been particularly helpful — both in terms of relationship building and content creation. It should come as no great shock that people love to feel valued, and intentionally prioritizing that in all my relationships has been a game-changer.
Sociocracy and the power of silence
Being comfortable with silence in a conversation is a superpower. I still squirm at silences, but now I’m aware of what’s going on and try to observe it rather than react. And it always ends wonderfully! Someone speaks who would probably otherwise have stayed quiet, or your conversation partner pipes up with a nugget of insight, a personal reflection, or interesting question. The same process applies in PGI meetings. After the grounding exercise, we are asked a check-in question and then there’s a 30- to 60-second round of silence while we all reflect on it.
Being comfortable with silence in a conversation is a superpower.
We use consent-based decision making, which is part of the sociocratic process. So when there’s a decision to be made, someone makes a proposal and then we have an intentional round of silence, first to see if there are any clarifications. Then there’s another round of silence before we see if anyone has any objections to the proposal. If so, we can make modifications to the proposal and do another round of clarifications, and so it continues.
After each round of silence, the facilitator asks if anyone needs more time, and if you do you can just put a ‘Y’ in the video call chat. Similarly if you have clarifications, objections, questions, or comments, you can signal that with a single letter in the video call chat, and will be given a chance to speak. This is true in all of our meetings — even beyond the decision-making process — and it avoids those horrible situations where you want to say something but the conversation goes too quickly, or you miss your chance, or feel too intimidated to raise an issue.
The basic sociocratic approach of making a proposal and asking if there are any objections has been extremely helpful in my work with other organizations. It allows things to move forward without colleagues feeling overburdened to make a decision or provide input.
Overall, these lessons have proved instructive and insightful, even if they’ve caused considerable discomfort at times. And the best part is, there’s so much more to learn.
Natalie Holmes is a freelance writer and editor working in the fields of regenerative economics and humanitarian support & solidarity. She is the managing editor of Post Growth Perspectives and the Post Growth Fellowship.
Inspired? Here are some suggestions of things you can do next:
- Listen to the PGI’s Executive Director, Donnie Maclurcan, talk about embodied leadership and the PGI’s culture on the Denizen podcast.
- Find out more about sociocracy and consent-based decision making at Sociocracy for All, co-founded by Affiliate Post Growth Fellow, Ted Rau.
- Fill out the form below to sign up to our Full Circle newsletter and receive monthly insight & inspiration about all things post growth:
