In the past, organizations operated like machines, emphasizing efficiency and rigid structures. This approach led to disengaged employees and a lack of adaptability in a rapidly changing world. The rise of progressive, purpose-driven organizations has begun to reshape how we work. This post dives into how embracing ecosystems, systems thinking and fostering self-organizing teams can lead to self-sustainable success.

Evolving Beyond Industrial Age Practices

The industrial age shaped how we run organizations over a century ago, and even though the world has drastically changed, these principles remain largely unchanged. Employees are still viewed as mere hands executing ideas from a select few engineers, reminiscent of Ford’s assembly line approach, where workers followed blueprints without utilizing their minds as access to university was a scarce resource. However, the world has evolved into an information age where problem-solving, systems thinking and innovation are needed more than following a set blueprint, necessitating an update in organizational operations.

The majority of organizations today function like machines — rigid and focused on efficiency. They resemble intricate clockwork systems, where workers are seen as replaceable parts within a larger system.

In contrast, progressive, also known as teal organizations, operate as thriving ecosystems — interconnected and adaptive, guided by systems thinking principles. Each part is autonomous while working together towards a shared purpose, allowing the system to balance itself with minimal effort. Embracing this perspective requires a fundamental re-imagining of work structures and decision-making processes.

The journey from standalone parts to integrated systems is one of commitment, similar to the hero’s journey.  The road isn’t smooth or fast or follows a straight line. It is filled with obstacles to overcome and delving into the unknown. This post explores the transformation process and the keys to a successful transition.

A Farm That Teaches Transformation: The Biggest Little Farm Story

Following the metaphor of an organization as ecosystem, a documentary about a couple’s journey to build a self-sustaining farm outlines the journey of transformation over seven years – transforming depleted and lifeless soil into a thriving farm producing a multitude of ingredients any chef can wish for on their farm.

The journey of Molly – a culinary chef with a big dream of serving tasty and healthy food, fresh from the farm – and her husband John – a wildlife photographer – offers insightful lessons for organizational transformation towards a self-sustaining whole system. Supported by Alan, their trusted guide in creating a self-sustaining ecosystem on their farm, they embark on an incredible journey of transformation.  Alan believes that a natural ecosystem sustains itself with minimal outside effort needed to run such a farm.

Key Insights from the Journey from Machine to Thriving Ecosystem

Their story mirrors the struggles and triumphs of building self-managing teams and moving towards a self-sustaining ecosystem in the workplace.   The key insights I gathered from this documentary are summarized below:

Lesson 1: Recognize the Importance of Objective Guidance in Transformations

Neither Molly nor John had farming experience, having lived in urban apartments most of their lives. Their first step was to find a mentor to guide them through the complexities of agriculture, leading them to Alan, who provided essential agricultural support.
However, like many hero’s journeys, the mentor’s role is crucial initially but eventually fades, allowing for a necessary mindset shift to be integrated that ensures lasting transformation.
In agile transformations, organizations often become overly reliant on agile coaches and Scrum Masters, even creating roles within the organization rather than keeping guidance external and objective. True success, however, is measured after the guide departs; if the organization continues to thrive independently, it indicates a shift in mindset from merely following orders to embracing problem-solving based on core principles and values.
The Agile Manifesto and Scrum illustrate this point well for those familiar with these practices. Organizations that strictly adhered to the Scrum rule book – a process framework with some key practices with the goal of achieving agility – often failed because they focused on checklists rather than changing their mindset. In contrast, the Agile Manifesto – also a framework but without any specific content, rituals, or rules to follow – serves as a tool for guiding decision-making and fostering a mindset shift.

Lesson 2: Leverage Diversity for Greater Organizational Maturity and Agility

Alan’s farming philosophy emphasizes the importance of biodiversity and the coexistence of various species.  He believed that a diverse range of species strengthens an ecosystem. In contrast, monoculture — often favoured in modern agriculture due to its comparative simplicity — mirrors the machine metaphor by focusing on a single crop species to maximize efficiency and yield. This practice, however, leads to soil erosion and makes farmers vulnerable to pest outbreaks and diseases that can devastate entire crops.

Just as biodiversity sustains ecosystems; diverse backgrounds, skills, mindsets, cultures, and roles are crucial to build effective teams. Progressive organizations thrive when they embrace varied perspectives. Scaling takes on a new meaning within this context, prioritizing diverse backgrounds and skills over uniformity to a pre-existing job specification. Rather than seeking candidates with similar experiences than successful employees before them, organizations now look for individuals from different and even unrelated fields. Skills, after all, can be taught, while sharing a vision towards a meaningful future and common values are priceless.

By incorporating diverse skills, personalities, and perspectives teams enhance their problem-solving capabilities, bringing unique perspectives that disrupt old mindset patterns and group think.

Lesson 3: Take Time to Establish a Strong Foundation for Sustainable Change

John and Molly’s journey toward creating a self-sustaining farm began with transforming their barren, drought-stricken land into a fertile ecosystem. They used their entire annual budget within the first six months to implement composting techniques, without adding a single plant or animal yet.  This long, mostly invisible process, restored soil fertility, supporting plant growth.

Healthy soil is essential for growth. Without it, no other efforts will succeed. Just as rehabilitating soil is critical before planting crops, establishing a shared vision, values, decision-making structures, and conflict resolution mechanisms within a team is fundamental for self-organizing teams.  It is these invisible contracts that enable the growth going forward.  While it doesn’t yield immediate or tangible results and requires a larger big investment in time, without it, failure is eminent.

Lesson 4: Shift Your Mindset to Transform Challenges Into Resources

When snails invaded the Chester’s crops and ducks polluted their pond, Molly and John discovered an elegant solution without spending any more money to solve the problem.  They simply relocated the ducks to feast on the snails while the water had time to recover.

They also had gophers that damaged fruit tree roots and birds that consumed their harvest. These infestations resulted in significant losses, with one year seeing a 70% reduction in their fruit crop. Additionally, coyotes attacked their livestock leading to substantial losses. On top of this the farm also endured extreme weather conditions, such as droughts and floods, complicating their efforts to maintain a stable ecosystem.

Aware that it is part of the process, the Chesters learned to observe and adapt in response to these failures rather than see it as problems, guided by Alan. This adapt-and-learn process forms the heart of agility, the lean startup, and the century old quality process of plan, do, check, and act.  It’s not about the problem but the ability to adapt in response to the problem that matters.

This mirrors how organizational challenges often uncover resources or opportunities within teams. The problems are actually signs of healthy recovering.  It allows one to see and respond to an issue rather than keep it hidden from sight, silently damaging the team’s success without anyone noticing, much like dealing with technical and organizational debt.

Transformation is not about following a blueprint; it’s more like planting a seed and continuously adjusting water, sunlight, and pest management to nurture growth through presence and awareness.

Lesson 5: Relationships are More Important Than Skills

Following on the previous point, many of the problems the Chesters experienced merely required a shift in their resources rather than adding more.  The ducks were already on the farm when they had the snails destroying their crops.  They didn’t had to add anything to the system, they simply had to change the relationship between some parts of the system.

In an interconnected, complex system, each time you add or remove any one part, the equilibrium within the system is disrupted.  In order to maintain equilibrium within a self-sustaining system, all you have to do is move the resources you already have in the right place, thus changing their relationship to the other.  Molly and John, for example, solved the coyote’s killing of the chickens by moving a watchdog to guard the chickens, which in turn led the coyotes to feed on the gophers – effectively managing the pests in the ecosystem.  By changing one relationship, two problems were solved.

Within an organizational context, the same principle applies. You probably already have the needed resources to address a problem. You merely need to shift the roles and responsibilities to find the natural equilibrium within the system.  Know each team member’s strengths and where they need support.

The difference between a good and great team is the strength of the relationships.  Spend time understanding and mapping the relationships and the interconnectedness of each.

Lasting Change Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

The journey of transformation is often marked by initial chaos as new elements are introduced and relationships change, whether on a farm or within an organization. Just as Molly and John experienced growing pains while establishing their self-sustaining farm, organizations too must navigate through challenges to achieve healthier systems without giving up.

It always gets worse before it gets better.

Don’t give up too soon.  Look at problems with curiosity, looking for the solution that is hidden in plain sight and know that transformation takes time.  It’s not a switch you can simply turn on or off.  You need patience and perseverance.

It took seven years for the farm to reach self-sustainability.  But after seven hard years, the family had a self-sustaining ecosystem and literally could sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labour.  They gained what everyone on earth wants most – time.  Time to spend with loved ones.  It is time to do what they’re passionate about—time to enjoy the journey.

Similarly, successful organizational transformations demand sustained effort and commitment over time. By embracing the lessons learned from the biggest little farm, you can foster an environment that thrives on adaptability, diversity, and shared purpose.

The Biggest Little Farm is not only an inspiring story.  It is a story summarizing the transformation from part of a machine to a whole interconnected system.  If you’re exploring the journey towards becoming an evolutionary teal organization and would like to discuss insights or strategies, feel free to connect.

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

With more than 20 years experience in the software development industry, Kate specializes in helping teams get unstuck, communicate better and ultimately be more productive. She believes in efficiency through fun implementing lean, agile and playful design as tools for process improvement and organizational change. Her goal is to create more happy, healthy and whole workplaces where each person thrives and productivity soars.