Redwoods Capitalism
The Redwoods of Coastal California are huge. I know this may sound silly but to actually stand beside one is to marvel at its sheer magnitude. When something is so large one tends to think of it as powerful. Like giant corporations towering over the economic landscape in the last century, redwoods tower over the rest of the forest. Indeed, a redwood tree is often referred to as The Mighty Redwood. And they are long-lived, anywhere from 600 to 2,200 years old.
The redwoods appear to be independent. And we assume power affords us independence. Power is shaping the world around you. But a closer look at the mighty redwood is a first step towards a re-imagining of what it means to be powerful in our emerging world.
Far from being independent, redwoods are wholly dependent on their ecosystem. Their coastal habitat receives heavy rainfall. In fact, there is so much rain that many of the necessary nutrients are washed out of the soil. This leaves redwoods depending on the whole community of the forest, including the complete recycling of the trees when dead.
Redwoods have also adapted so that their leaves can suck moisture from the fog, enabling them to waste fewer resources.
And rather than having deep roots as one might assume, redwoods actually have a very shallow root system that spreads out laterally. How do such tall trees remain standing with shallow roots? Their roots entwine with one another all along the coast, effectively creating a giant web that the tress are tied into.
The size and long life of the redwoods is possible not because they dominate their ecosystem, but rather because they are equal partners within it. The same will be true for businesses in the emerging eco-economies of the twenty-first century. (See William McDonough’s Ted talk on cradle to cradle design.)
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 5:47 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.