15 Nov Conscious Business as a Transformative Practice (Part Three)
Developing New Habits
Transformative practices are central to moving from the call to personal and professional change to the development of new and sustainable habits and patterns of behavior. In this way, business can become a transformative practice with the right conditions.
As we have learned from neuroscience, our brains lay down neural pathways based on repetitive experiences. If these pathways are associated with dysfunctional behaviors, we may find ourselves facing a crisis of meaning and purpose. Historically it was thought that brains are not capable of change as we move into adulthood.
But outdated behaviors that limit personal growth and development need not persist moving forward. Recent discoveries in neuroscience, such as neuroplasticity, reveal that our adult brains can develop throughout life in response to new experiences and stimuli. Like children, the adult brain has the capacity to grow new neurons, repair damaged areas, and work in new ways that lead to new patterns of behavior.
More interesting yet, the brain can undergo physical changes simply through pure mental activity. Mentally rehearsing an athletic event, a musical composition, the creation of new computer software, or a new marketing campaign can actually impact the brain in much the same way as actually doing the activity.
The lesson is that each of us, under the right conditions, have the capacity to make fundamental shifts in what we know and how we know it. Likewise, collective activities related to the business process can lead to new patterns of behavior and new outcomes. Encouraging both personal and professional development can lead to new ways of engaging work as core to human expression. By embracing business as a transformative practice, companies can build new habits, invite new standards of excellence, identify new thresholds for profit, and create new pathways to triple-bottom-line outcomes.