INNOVATION & DESIGN

Values-Driven Innovation | Design Thinking | Value Proposition Discovery & Design | Life-centric Innovation

At the heart of progress lies innovation—a force that propels us to create new value or to capture value in novel ways through ingenuity and visionary thinking. Its essence lies in nurturing and breathing life into novel ideas that wield a positive impact on the world.
Over time, innovation has evolved, transitioning from a primarily product-centric approach, focusing on marketing and creating customer demand (‘making people want things’), to a more human-centric approach, which emphasizes the user experience and satisfying genuine needs (‘making things people want’). Today, we stand at the cusp of a new era – a life-centric approach to innovation, aligning with nature’s inherent wisdom.
Both product-centric and human-centric innovation strategies have thrived within the framework of the neo-liberal growth economy, relying on exploitation, consumption, and fierce competition. Yet, embracing a life-centric approach to innovation marks a paradigm shift as it takes the full impact on ecological systems and the environment into account, often referred to as full cost accounting. This approach inherently challenges the notion of endless economic growth and seeks to harmonize desirability with responsibility, respecting environmental and planetary boundaries.
While a ‘green’ approach to human-centric design can acknowledge eco-conscious practices to reduce negative impacts and minimize footprints, circular design elevates sustainability to new heights by eliminating waste and pollution, aiming for a sustainable and net-neutral outcome with no additional harm. However, life-centric design surpasses mere sustainability, as its ultimate aim lies in replenishing and restoring both people and the planet. It establishes a co-evolutionary relationship with nature, drawing inspiration from its wisdom and resilience.
Transformative innovation is as much about deep listening into what wants to emerge as it is about conscious and intentional interventions on the path from our current industrial growth society and culture of competitive individualism to a life-sustaining society and truly regenerative cultures.
Our pursuit of innovation embarks on this transformative journey, where our mission goes beyond mere product or service creation. We weave a narrative of responsible and purposeful progress, extending our focus beyond capturing market demand to holistically integrate environmental and societal well-being into the fabric of our work. Challenging the status quo, we envision a future where economic growth aligns harmoniously with the preservation of our planet and the advancement of human lives, effectively making business more beautiful.

Valexion stands ready to support you in this quest for meaningful values-driven innovation, deriving strength from the regenerative power of nature. Together, we can forge a brighter, more life affirming future, leaving a lasting legacy of positive impact for generations to come.

REGENERATION

Sustainability | Regenerative Design | Conscious Leadership & Entrepreneurship

There is growing recognition that achieving prosperity within environmental limits requires fundamental changes in core systems of production and consumption. There is a general consensus that we need to establish a more sustainable and equitable world. The term sustainability begs us to explain what it is we are trying to sustain. And is merely sustaining really enough? The “take-make-use-lose” approach has pushed our planet to breaking point. Our economies have delivered unimaginable wealth, but only for the few. The system is failing people and planet. Humanity is facing the challenge to transform the human impact on Earth from being predominantly exploitative and destructive to being collaborative and regenerative. Doing less harm is no longer enough. We need the positive impact of regeneration: restoring ecosystems, reversing climate change, upending inequality and injustice. Slowly but surely, regeneration has made its way onto the agenda and into the boardroom. Responsible business leaders are beginning to set their companies on a different path based on collaborative advantage rather than competitive advantage.

A Regenerative business is one that not only does no harm, but actively does good for the planet and for society. Regenerative design is a systems-thinking approach to design that considers the full life cycle of a product or service. It goes beyond the traditional linear “take-make-use-lose” model to focus on designing for circularity, resilience, and restoration. This means designing products that can be easily recycled or up-cycled, using renewable materials, and creating regenerative systems that give back to the environment. The goal is to create a positive impact on the environment and society, rather than just doing the least amount of harm. Ultimately we have to understand that short-term wins of competitive and exploitative companies come at a massive long-term cost to all of society, ecosystem’s health and eventually the business and its staff themselves.
What is the purpose and mission of your company? Is this mission supporting any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and how?

TRANSFORMATION

Values-Driven Business Transformation | Conscious Business Model, Organization & Culture Design

In today’s volatile business environment, all organizations are facing unprecedented challenges, driving the imperative to innovate and reinvent at a rapid pace. Digital disruptions are reshaping industries, ecosystem-based strategies are gaining momentum, and companies adhering to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are becoming increasingly appealing to employees and investors alike.
Effective leaders are transforming their businesses to meet this moment, updating the core business to reinvent the entire organization. However, successful transformations are difficult to achieve, with the majority of them ending in failure. Studies have emphasized the critical importance of changing the culture, behaviors, and ways of working to ensure the success of transformation initiatives.

Valexion can assist your company in navigating the multiple environmental disruptions by supporting conscious business model innovation and business transformation. We facilitate organizational and cultural transformations by implementing principles of self-organization and fostering leadership mindsets and styles that promote cultures conducive to flow and high performance.

A conscious business is one that aligns with the regenerative (r)evolution. What would give your life more meaning and purpose than to work for a flourishing and thriving world for all and contribute to the healing of people and planet? Recognizing the interconnectedness of everything on our fragile and overpopulated planet, it becomes clear that the shift from exploitative and destructive practices to collaborative and regenerative ones is in everyone’s enlightened self-interest.
Are you ready to embrace the regenerative (r)evolution? Working towards a flourishing and thriving world for all, while contributing to the regeneration of society, the environment, and the economy, aligns with the broader need for social, ecological, and economic regeneration. Together, we face the challenge of transforming human impact on Earth, fostering collaboration and regeneration to create a sustainable future for generations to come.

© Kate Raworth – Doughnut Economics