The 7 First Principles of Regenerative Business
When we talk about "regeneration," especially in a business context, it can quickly become abstract or overly intellectual. Yet regeneration is deeply practical and deeply alive. The principles of regenerative business come to us through oral storytelling, through lineages of wisdom rooted in Indigenous worldviews, and specifically from author and regeneracist Carol Sanford, who first learned these principles from her Mohawk grandfather.
The regenerative approach to business isn't about learning a bunch of frameworks or complicated theory, it is an invitation to relate differently to life itself by embracing complexity, interconnectedness, and living systems thinking and being.
What Does Regeneration Mean to You?
Pause for a moment. When you hear the word "regeneration," what arises in your senses?
What do you see, hear, smell, taste, or feel?
Does regeneration feel complex and overwhelming, or nourishing and inviting?
Does it feel like something alive and pulsing, or abstract and hard to grasp?
Regeneration is not a static concept; it is living theory. Regenerative wisdom can be found in the warmth of soil, the scent of wet mulch and green leaves, the cyclical nature of seasons and ecosystems. It is an invitation into a different way of perceiving our relationship to work, community, and the world around us.
Why Regenerative Principles Matter
The seven principles of regeneration describe qualities inherent in all truly living systems. They help us recognize when our work is deeply alive and interconnected, and when it is operating from a mechanistic or fragmented worldview.
A mechanistic worldview sees the world as fragmented parts: replaceable, separate, isolated. A regenerative worldview sees everything as deeply interconnected and whole.
As you explore these principles, notice how each one contrasts sharply with conventional ways of seeing success, growth, and productivity. Each principle is an invitation to practice new ways of being in our lives and businesses.
The 7 Principles of Regenerative Business
1. Wholeness
Wholeness is recognizing that everything belongs. All aspects of who we are—psychically, emotionally, creatively—are part of an interconnected ecosystem. Wholeness is not perfection; it's inclusion, integration, and belonging.
Reflective Questions:
How would your life and business change if you viewed everything as part of one interconnected whole?
How does wholeness challenge the fragmented, reductionist thinking common in our culture?
2. Essence
Essence is about understanding the core identity of a person, community, or system. It moves beyond surface-level functions and roles to identify the inherent qualities and authentic nature of something.
Reflective Questions:
What is the essence of your work? Your business?
How does focusing on essence change the way you relate to yourself, your customers, and your community?
3. Potential
Potential recognizes the latent capacities and unrealized possibilities within everything. It's about cultivating environments that nurture growth, creativity, and development, allowing new realities to emerge.
Reflective Questions:
How can you nurture potential in yourself and others?
What future possibilities do you hold for your community?
4. Developmental
Regenerative realities are developmental. They are constantly evolving, adapting, and unfolding. Seeing life and work as developmental helps us engage with change intentionally, shaping our businesses and communities in alignment with natural cycles and rhythms.
Reflective Questions:
How does embracing a developmental view change your approach to growth?
How can you support continuous evolution within your business?
5. Reciprocity
Reciprocity emphasizes mutual exchange, balance, and harmony. It's about creating relationships based on exchange rather than extraction, contributing to the well-being of everyone involved.
Reflective Questions:
Where can you practice greater reciprocity in your relationships?
How does reciprocity transform the ways you engage your community and resources?
6. Nodal
Nodal points are key points of influence within a system. By identifying these nodes, we can effectively leverage energy and resources for deeper transformation and impact.
Reflective Questions:
How does your business function as a node within your community?
How can understanding your business as a nodal intervention help you amplify positive impact?
7. Nestedness
Nestedness describes systems within systems; acknowledging that our work, lives, and communities exist within larger ecological, social, and cosmic contexts.
Reflective Questions:
How does awareness of nested systems inform your actions and decision making?
What larger systems hold and influence the potential of your work?
How to Begin Practicing Regeneration
These seven principles are not meant to overwhelm you or become intellectual gymnastics. Rather, they're invitations to deepen your relationship to life. As regenerative practitioners, our role is not to master these principles intellectually, but to practice and live into their wisdom through everyday actions, interactions, and reflections.
Regenerative business is a sensory, embodied practice. It asks you to listen, observe, feel, and act from a place of deeper connection and wisdom. It is not a formula, but a way of relating. It is a way of working that nourishes life rather than extracting from it.
By beginning with these foundational principles, we may start to build businesses that reflect a living, interconnected world.
