The Generative Edge, in contrast to the competitive edge, gives executives increased power to shape their organizations’ future, even in the most turbulent of times.

One of our clients, Feros Care, a large aged care facility based in New South Wales and Queensland, did just that.

In the realm of Generative Edge, instead of focusing on beating the competition, the Feros Care CEO and Board concentrated on making competition irrelevant by paying no heed to the conventional industry boundaries.  They have created an innovation program that encourages and celebrates innovation whilst encouraging staff to bring their awareness into creation through a series of well defined steps. They have developed robust procedures to continually monitor the strategic environment that they work in, and have refocused their Board and senior staff so they are formally tapping into strategic issues and discussing strategy rather than operations.

This is remarkably rare in organizations.

What would it take for your organization to function from innovation and strategic focus?

….Steven and Chutisa Bowman

We have observed that leaders who thrive and meet the challenges of today’s hyper-changing environment do not follow conventional business models that are based on competitive advantage. Instead they function from the Generative Edge. With this Generative Edge, leaders operate beyond competing to actively seize new growth and opportunities. On the contrary, leaders who use competitive based business models seem to function on the premise that industry boundaries are defined with limited amounts of clients and resources. Those who lead based on competitive advantage accept as true that other businesses in their chosen industry are their competitors and they have to beat those competitors to succeed.

In contrast, Generative Edge organizations have the point of view that there is no short supply of clients and there is no limit to opportunity.  Generative Edge organizations are aware that an industry’s structural conditions are neither inevitable nor finite. They are able to perceive and find distinctive market positions and sustainable advantages in a variety of ways. They recognize opportunities and seize them. The Generative Edge is a space where new ideas and innovation are constantly created from a heightened Strategic Awareness of the Board, senior executives and the organization generally.

Generative Edge organizations stand for a more conscious approach that goes beyond maximizing profits or shareholder value. They consciously create value for all of their interdependent stakeholders—customers, employees, investors, suppliers, community, and the environment. Paradoxically, this conscious approach also creates the most long-term value for investors. In accordance with the Generative Edge doctrine, a company no longer puts profits first, but works to a “triple bottom line”, considering the effects of what it does on society and the environment as well.  The mould for Generative Edge doctrine was cast in the 1980s and 90s by Generative Edge companies such as the Body Shop and the Co-operative Bank.

What would need to change in your business to move from competitive edge to Generative Edge?

…..Steven and Chutisa Bowman

Question: “What is the compatibility of Prosperity Consciousness with the Environmental movement, where thinking is about limited resources, not wasting anything. How could they happily co exist.“

I love your question, thank you for asking it with such amazing clarity. I totally agree that there is a misidentification and perceived incompatibility between prosperity consciousness and the environmental movement.

The current environmental crisis has caused people around the world to be in a state of fear and worry, which in itself is a form of negative affirmation. The environmental crisis is a product of a whole bed of unexamined, unconscious practices, beliefs and ways of life that are based on the scarcity paradigm. The environmental crisis in truth is a crisis of conscious awareness.

The environmental movement, by and large, has focused on the fear factor, the sense of loss, rather than the wonder and the question “what else is possible?”
To truly save the environment and heal our world all of us must develop awareness to perceive how we’ve made things worse, even with good intentions.

This means that the environmental movement needs to bring this conscious awareness aspect into their discussions about the environmental crisis.  No fundamental restoration can be accomplished if they leave unexplored the lack of conscious awareness role in all this. This requires enormous courage because the current global system is supporting something else, and promoting it from a base of scarcity. The conventional structures and systems around the world – including governments, education, trades, economies, and even religion – are all rooted in that outdated belief in scarcity. Unfortunately, they have fully bought into the lie of scarcity that there’s not enough to go around, and we’ve got to get more than we need to protect ourselves from being one of the people who gets left out because someone, somewhere, is always going to be left out.

To truly save the planet, people have to become aware that all of us must choose to move out of the scarcity paradigm and into prosperity consciousness. We must stop just merely focusing on fixes. The fix-it mentality in itself can be the cause of further problems. There is now plenty of research to show that environmental advocates who resort to relentless shaming, blaming, and imposing their own standards only increase the aversion and resistance of the people at large.
According to Buckminster Fuller, to regenerate the planet people have to be willing to acknowledge that humanity has been living in a ‘you-or-me’ paradigm of separation, where either you make it at my expense or I make it at your expense, because there’s not enough for both of us. We have to recognize that our thoughts, feelings, emotions, traumas and dramas, and judgments that are based on scarcity are the toxic wastes that are killing the planet. The earth can do miraculous recovery. The earth can take all the toxic waste and go; “I don’t think so, lets’ undo it.” Except it can’t because we are handicapping it with our judgments and our fixed points of view we are holding in place.

In our view Prosperity Consciousness is the essential element for unlocking people and the energies that can be available on the planet as a result of more awareness and generosity of spirit being available. With prosperity consciousness we will be able to let go of our self-centered thinking and egocentric behavior and free ourselves from the clutches of this scarcity paradigm. We can express our generosity of spirit in ways that benefit the universe, the earth and everyone concerned.

Something I’ve noticed in my work as a facilitator is that when I say the word “Prosperity Consciousness,” many people seem to hear instead the words “wealth and money.” That’s a profound misunderstanding. Prosperity consciousness is not merely about money. Prosperity Consciousness is the generative energy of life on the planet earth, and it exists in everything. It is the state of being in communion with all things. When we are being Prosperity Consciousness we have the ability to be present in our life without any judgment at all of anything that goes on and be willing to receive in totality the abundant exuberance of life. Since there are a whole lot of changes happening on the earth, it is imperative that we learn to access this energy, this awareness we have. We need to be prepared for being the energy that can change everything and everyone around us, so that chaos and mayhem are not the standard by which people function in the future.

The essence of prosperity consciousness puts us in touch with the deep, profound truths that we are all interconnected and that our awareness and the way we live and relate to all other life are the sources of power and potency. When each one of us chooses to embody Prosperity Consciousness we make a difference that would impact all of humanity.

True change will occur when the environmental movement merges the view of life as abundant, wonderous and full of opportunity, with the necessity of moving from scarcity (lack, fear, competition) to prosperity (question, possibility and change). What would it take for this to happen? What needs to change for the environmental movement to show others how to be more prosperous?

Prosperity Consciousness is essential to creating space for Generative Edge to occur.  Prosperity Consciousness is not just about possessions and money. It is about a joyful expression of life, a generosity of spirit, a sense of expansiveness, a joy of being, and a sense of abundance in all things. Openness to possibility and willingness to receive everything without judgment are key factors in becoming Prosperity Consciousness; a vibrant curiosity is also an important ingredient.  When leaders have Prosperity Consciousness, they lack nothing. They are open and willing to receive everything with gratitude and without judgment. Prosperity Consciousness allows leaders to expand their awareness to access infinite possibilities beyond their previous experience.

Finding examples of Generative Edge businesses is not difficult. These organizations are led by Generative Edge leaders who use Strategic Awareness and Prosperity Consciousness to transform not just their organization but their community, society and the world at large. Apple’s CEO Steve Job, Whole Foods’ CEO John Mackey, Dove’s global brand director Silvia Lagnado, Manchester Bidwell’s CEO Bill Strickland, Billionaire and Virgin Brand’s CEO Sir Richard Branson, Cirque du Soleil’s CEO Guy Lalibert’e, Avon’s CEO Andrea Jung, The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s music director of Benjamin Zander, Children book publisher, writer, and photographer Margaret Hyde to name a few, are great examples of iconic Generative Edge leaders of the 21st century.

These leaders are from diverse industries and backgrounds, however they have one thing in common. They all exemplify Strategic Awareness and Prosperity Consciousness. They have the ability to detect adverse conditions, shape strategy, direct courses of action, and explore new markets, products and services.

Who do you know that functions from this place?

What do you choose?

….Steven and Chutisa Bowman

When we work with leaders who truly lead from the Generative Edge, the first thing that strikes us is just how different they really are. Their uniqueness often appears to observers to be beyond description, an enigmatic state of beingness with a remarkable effect.  They seem to take in more complexity, and see the interconnections. They are able to perceive trends outside their industry that affect the positioning of their businesses and create new growth opportunities. Generative Edge leaders have Strategic Awareness and Prosperity Consciousness that supports them to operate across borders and through boundaries. Generative Edge provides leaders with the energy, space and consciousness to perceive the whole system of which they are a part as well as taking responsibility for their roles within it.

When leaders choose to embody and be Generative Edge, they will face a personal challenge that requires transformational change – a radical shift in mind-set, attitude and behaviour that combines both Strategic Awareness and Prosperity Consciousness. What sets Generative Edge leaders apart is their ability to integrate and nurture both Strategic Awareness and Prosperity Consciousness. Most efforts at becoming Generative Edge falter because leaders often develop Strategic Awareness without having Prosperity Consciousness.  Some leaders find it difficult to let go of the idea of the step-by-step linear construct of this reality that is based on the scarcity paradigm. This attachment to the scarcity paradigm blinds them from seeing what else is possible. They become stuck in their own realities, unable to change the lens through which they view the world. People who don’t have Prosperity Consciousness have a chronic sense of insufficiency about life. This is the fundamental mode from which they think, act, and function in the world.

What would it take for us let go of the step-by-step linear construct of this reality, and function from the Generative Edge?

……Steven and Chutisa Bowman

Although the term Generative Edge is new, the practice of Generative Edge is not. Generative Edge has been a state of beingness and a feature of business life for many successful and illustrious people, past and present. It has not, however, been overtly talked about. What is new is the awareness of the Generative Edge framework and what it would take to embody and be Generative Edge. Over the past 20 years we have studied global businesses and discovered that many of the world’s top movers and shakers are very well attuned to Strategic Awareness and Prosperity Consciousness and use them to propel their businesses forward. Richard Branson, Angela Braly, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffet, Anita Roddick, Tom Peters, Lee Iacocca, Meg Whitland, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein, to name a few, have all publicly attributed their success to their ability to access and trust their awareness.

During the course of our work we have been able to verify that Generative Edge is what separates remarkable leaders who deliver results, from mediocre leaders who don’t. Generative Edge leaders perceive things differently. They function beyond current business models and constraints. They have competence to redefine boundaries that have dictated and influenced traditional business practices. Additionally, their ability to suspend judgment while expanding their zone of awareness to perceive and receive new and different perspectives allows for emergent ideas to present themselves.

This new paradigm of Generative Edge has never been more important. We know the old business paradigms just don’t work – look at what has happened in the business world in the past 6 months!

What can we choose that will facilitate the Generative Edge in our businesses?

….Steven and Chutisa Bowman

We have been traveling in the USA for the past 2 weeks, meeting with people who are interested in working with us to further develop Generative Edge, Strategic Awareness and Prosperity Consciousness.

New York was amazing (and cold), with incredibly gifted people who have been assisting us (did I mention it was freezing??) to develop the infrastructure for our Generative Edge programs.

We are in Prague at the moment, meeting with a specialist in the nonprofit sector in Europe, again talking about Strategic Awareness. Beautiful city with an amazing history.

True magic happens in business when we are fully embracing Strategic Awareness as well as fusing our awareness with real world knowledge. Strategic Awareness is how non-analytic data is accessed through what is best described as awareness or inner knowing, and is incorporated into the strategic decision-making process as an integral component. Furthermore, awareness when combined with strategy enhances analytic thinking and provides insights as to timing, specific strategy and innovation. Strategic Awareness allows us to take in a wide range of information and perceive things in a broader context, to take advantage of opportunities and to avoid problems that trap other people.

Strategic Awareness creates synergy that allows us to be able to make the accurate business decisions, create new ideas that will generate money, envision new trends, know who to hire, know who to partner with and know how to transform risk into strategic advantage. This powerful combination of awareness and business strategy creates momentum and enables us to take advantage of all the new opportunities that the hyper-change environment is creating.

What would need to change for this to occur?

What am I willing to be and do to create the change that is possible?

…….Steven and Chutisa Bowman

We have had the pleasure of working in Sedona for the past week, and have met some amazing people. We have had discussions ranging from issues related to nonprofit Boards and decision making, to the gift that business people can bring to conscious awareness, and the impact that consciousness can have on businesses. Here are some of these amazing people:

Chutisa Bowman with Puma and Morgan from Grace Grove Resort, Sedona

Morgan and Puma own and run Grace Grove Resort in Cornville, Arizona, just outside of Sedona. They are masters of Raw Food, Co-Founders of One Spirit Weekend, and skilled Resort owners. Their property is awesome, and can be viewed at www.gracegrove.com

Dr Teri Mahaney, Chutisa Bowman and Joanna Giles

Had a great discussion with Dr Teri Mahaney, a well known advocate of nonprofit governance, about some of the issues related to Boards of nonprofits who create their Boards around the ability to give money, rather than strategic decision making, and the issues facing these Boards- particularly in todays’ economic environment. Joanna Giles is founder and Board member of a number of nonprofits in Australia and the USA (ask her about Hog Heaven!), and an amazing fundraiser with flair.

We have implemented this framework of “Strategic Awareness + Prosperity Consciousness = Generative Edge” into our own life and business. We chose to change the way we live and create our businesses from the traditional paradigm that requires control, force and effort to one where we functioned more from the Generative Edge. We have experienced firsthand the flourishing of our businesses, and have also witnessed the amazing effect of increased conscious awareness with many leaders around the world who have implemented this framework. And it makes things so much easier!!

We see an expansion of conscious awareness in the global workplace as a new dynamic replacing the traditional competitive and profit-driven focus. Many organizations are leaving behind some of the more traditional commercially based selfish values. They have discovered that adopting Generative Edge business practices can actually enhance profits and productivity. The old model does not work. Here’s to something new..

…..Steven Bowman