Reawakening the Beginner's Mind: Innovation in Environmental Practice

Organisms and Organizations

We start by observing the parallels between organisms and organizations - terms derived from the same Greek and Latin roots meaning tool or instrument - something that can be used to get things done. The analogy serves as a useful introduction to our thinking about innovation.

An organism, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is an "individual form of life, such as a plant or animal; a body made up of organs, organelles, or other parts that work together to carry on the various processes of life." In order to live, an organism requires essential elements or resources such as food, water, space, and energy, which it acquires from its physical environment. To help obtain these resources, the organism occupies a particular niche in the larger biological ecosystem of which it is a part. This may involve cooperative, co-evolutionary, or even competitive relationships with other organisms and species. Over time, the organism (and often the entire species it represents) must adapt its behavior to a changing environment and ultimately evolve to compete successfully in an ever-dynamic biological system.

Analagously, an organization is defined as "something made up of elements with varied functions that contribute to the whole and to collective function." Like an organism, in order to survive, the organization must also incorporate a variety of functional elements such as production of goods and services, marketing, finance, legal, and research capabilities. Furthermore, to remain in operation, the organization will require a steady input of resources from investors and end users (customers) who contribute because they are attracted to the enterprise''s offerings and returns.

The organization, too, identifies and occupies a competitive niche relative to others by offering competing, complementary, or co-evolving products, functions, and services (i.e., attractive value propositions). And like an organism, the organization must adapt or evolve over time to meet the demands of changing conditions.

Departing from the analogy with organisms, our framework for organizations includes a human element as well. For example, as we will see later, the quality of an organization''s leadership and its sense of timing are often critical factors relevant to an organization''s ability to achieve its goals and objectives.

In this paper, we will consider a variety of key attributes related to the success (or failure) of a given environmental or conservation innovation, including those related to the initiative''s organization, resource strategy, competitive positioning, adaptability, and human factors.