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Dec 19 2019

Be Positive Sum

The Wave: Be Positive Sum
When pushed to define "regeneration" simply, I resort to "positive sum thinking".  Regeneration is about making the world better - no trade-offs.

Why is this remarkable? Before my regenerative transformation I lived in a zero-sum world - you don't grow the pie, just cut it up.

Our training reinforces these mental blinders. In economics, for example, many models assume and expect a "Pareto Optimal" outcome which cannot be improved upon without hurting at least one participant. So, you spend your time thinking about being more efficient or negotiating trade-offs (or ignoring externalities).

Examples of zero-sum thinking we see around us include:
But assuming a zero sum world blinds us to the many opportunities for being positive sum.  Shouldn't Patagonia, to be a true leader, set a target of being better than carbon neutral?  

Looking for positive sum opportunities helps us to see the world in new ways, in regenerative ways.
Designers of Paradise
We need your support for the Designers of Paradise podcast.

We are looking for subscribers (to listen) and subscribers (to support) this work. We hope to end 2019 with an engaged community of both kinds of subscribers.

A $10 or $5 monthly contribution - the cost of a couple of coffees - will make a big difference. Please?
Compare a pile of flour to a loaf of bread and you will begin to see the difference between dirt and healthy soil. How do you move from flour to bread or dirt to soil? Add microbes. This and many other insights from Didi.
One of the 1st podcasts of 2019, Erik and Daniel cover a variety of topics including the potential for the Sustainable Development Goals to increase support for global regeneration, how regenerative development can be thought of as “re-indigenization”, and the emergence of earth jurisprudence.
Holiday Shopping?
Help out our regenerative allies.
Blue Nest Beef enables people who love birds and the planet to support an idea bigger than themselves while being nourished
Perfect for all occasions, ‘Blue Dasher’ shirts are as soft and comfortable as they are great looking.

heralding stories from a new American West where cattle and conservation go hand in hand.
APOPO trains giant rats to save lives by safely and quickly sniffing out landmines and tuberculosis.
One Last Thing
Written by Neil Gaiman, read by Amanda Palmer, music by Jherek Bischoff,  animation by creative connection. 6' and you'll be glad you did.
In Closing
We are early in the process of defining what it means to build a regenerative society. While the terminology will continue to evolve, we're convinced the ideas are directionally correct. We are studying, testing, plotting, and building interest, support, and resources.

Thus this newsletter, which will come out periodically with information about RASA - narrating our work - along with brief observations and links to related materials exploring innovation and the regenerative economy.

With effort, and a bit of luck, we hope support for these concepts becomes a wave sweeping the world! Check out the archive to see if this newsletter is right for you (or a friend).

If you find this email valuable, please share with a friend. If you don't, please unsubscribe (link at the bottom.) We also much appreciate comments, advice, and suggestions for links to highlight.

Thanks.

      Dave 





PS's:
1. To subscribe to this weekly newsletter please go here > https://the-wave.ongoodbits.com/
2. Don't call us spam bro! But you can unsubscribe (with the link at the bottom)
3. This newsletter is a service of RASA, the Regenerative Agriculture Sector Accelerator.
4. Please send questions or suggestions to David Witzel
RASA operates as a fiscally sponsored project of Inquiring Systems, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization.

Thanks to Lobineau for the picture of the Wave in Arizona used in the header.

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