Nature’s Perpetual Reinvention: Lessons from The Pathway with André Hoffmann
What can we learn from nature? According to André Hoffmann, Vice Chairman of Roche Holdings, the natural world is not something to be simply admired or preserved — it is something to which we are deeply interconnected. Sharing insights from his lifelong passion for the environment on a recent episode of The Pathway, André explored some of the ways in which he’s applied these insights to his remarkable business career.
In the next instalment of his series of Reflections on The Pathway, Mike O’Brien distils key lessons on adaptability, reinvention and evolution from André’s colourful conversation with Fred Swaniker.
The Pathway has provided us with an opportunity to hear unique stories from a diverse set of distinguished global leaders. Are there recurring insights we can point to? Are there connections or patterns that are starting to form?
Starting with First Principles
Fred Swaniker launched The Pathway by having a conversation with Nigerian-born Toronto Raptors President, Masai Ujiri, who recommended we “listen, learn and see where our voices are needed.” He suggested that we focus on “the basics” of Kindness, Respect and Honesty.
We then heard from Don Gips, CEO of the Skoll Foundation, who talked about Kindness, the importance of “Knowing Yourself,” and being surrounded by people whose strengths complement your own. These small actions become magnified when the conditions are right, creating positive feedback loops (or flywheels) which generate increasing return situations.
Next up was Roshni Nadar Malhotra, CEO of the HCL Corporation, who built upon Don Gips’ insights, stressing the importance of having different experiences and finding diverse people with a similar DNA. She used words like Respect, Competitiveness and Staying Grounded as her keys to success.
Finally, Reeta Roy, CEO of the Mastercard Foundation, encouraged us to first become interesting, then to “Truly Listen” to others in order to have an impact.
While I encourage you to go back and listen to these conversations and form your own conclusions, what strikes me is none of this is rocket science. It is not high-level mathematics. These are concepts we all can learn and put into practice every day:
- Know yourself and pursue a path you are passionate about (Be Interesting, Be Different).
- Surround yourself with diversity (people whose experiences complement your own).
- Always listen and help others.
Moving Up the First Principles Pyramid
During the 5th Episode of The Pathway, we heard from André Hoffmann, Vice Chairman of Roche Holdings and a committed environmentalist. André grew up on a farm, which left a lasting impact on his development as a leader. He saw how the relationship between humans and nature is particularly important. Some of his key observations include: “Nature is not just something that is beautiful and needs to be preserved; it is something we interact with at an intimate level…Nature is in perpetual reinvention. It is constantly rebuilding itself. Nothing is static. Every day there is an action and a reaction, a capacity to adapt to outside circumstances… Nature is organized chaos, so the lessons are resilience and adaptability.”
Nature is in perpetual reinvention. It is constantly rebuilding itself.
Charles Darwin made similar observations over 150 years ago. Whether we like it or not, we are all constantly evolving; both collaborating and competing with those around us. In nature it is natural selection leading to a steady improvement over time. In leadership it is called listening, learning and adapting — having the courage to try something new, seeing how well it works, adjusting and taking the learnings along with you.
In nature it is natural selection leading to a steady improvement over time. In leadership it is called listening, learning and adapting.
As André Hoffmann described it, “Nature creates a balance by constantly acting and reacting to its environment. You need to constantly ask questions and search for answers. This is extremely uncomfortable. It is alright to be wrong. It requires humility.”
This insightful observation came about, in part, because he pursued a different path and was able to apply the lessons he learned growing up in nature to the current business environment — much like Roshni Nadar Malhotra was able to apply the lessons learned working in education and media (about the importance of diversity) to her role at HCL Corporation.
At Roche, the foundation of their pyramid is built upon the values of Courage, Integrity and Passion. Through passion and courage, people are encouraged to take risks, to “reach beyond boundaries and experiment” — just like in nature. By taking these risks and searching for answers, Roche employees are often uncomfortable, but they are surrounded by a culture of integrity which allows them to continue to learn and evolve.
Learning and evolving has enabled a family business like Roche to create the conditions for constant innovation — “It’s riskier, but if you don’t take risks, you don’t get the results you want.”
Creating Sustainable Paths Forward
André Hoffmann is now shifting his focus beyond Roche towards economic systems in place around the world. “We have been taught at school that if you want to be good you need to specialize. We need to be better and better at mastering the short term.” Based upon his experience, however, this “does not correspond with what nature does.” In nature, balance consistently gets recreated, and every action has long-term ramifications which could be both positive and negative. We need to better understand how ecosystems constantly evolve.
The questions André is currently asking to help him find his next path forward are:
- How do we better understand the root causes of the various challenges we collectively face, enabling us to uncover new, sustainable paths forward?
- How do we measure impact to ensure proper incentives are in place to help people and institutions fulfill their long-term needs vs their short term wants?
I hope we can all agree that many of the old systems worked to manage a routine and predictable life, but the world is now more interconnected and far more complex. Nature and business and politics do not exist in a vacuum but instead are part of the same evolving ecosystem. Rather than focusing on preserving and protecting certain legacy institutions, which often exist in silos, we need leaders who can reimagine a more unified system. Is there an inclusive, empathetic and more effective form of social organisation we can apply to our families, our communities, our companies, and the natural world?
Our world is a complex, adaptive system that is constantly evolving, just like nature. Stagnation guarantees we are unprepared for the inevitability of change.
Learning to Be Uncomfortable so We Can Continue to Evolve
For many people, change is the worst thing they can imagine. They have created a routine that fits their current wants and built a life around those routines. Comfort of the known, while imperfect, is preferable to the possibility of an uncertain future. There is also a widely held belief, based on historical precedent, that things are either preordained to work out in the end or impossible to change (differing opinions are predicated upon one’s life experiences). Because of this, we often cannot get out of our own way. We have a failure to imagine anything getting better or worse. We have achieved a social stagnation which eventually leads to entropy brought about by comfort and complacency.
Now, stagnation does not mean change will cease to exist — our world is a complex, adaptive system that is constantly evolving, just like nature. When stagnation happens in nature, natural selection takes over and a species gets left behind. Stagnation guarantees we are unprepared for the inevitability of change. It is thus the responsibility of leaders and changemakers to prevent this from happening.
A key lesson we are learning from The Pathway is this: by surrounding ourselves with people who have different experiences but a similar DNA, by encouraging each other to take risks, by listening and continuing to learn, we can collectively become more aligned with nature. We can become more resilient and develop the “capacity to adapt to outside circumstances” for our collective benefit.
Mike O’Brien is a member of The Room and Director of Research and Investment Strategy for AVR Asset Management in San Francisco. He founded a leadership consulting firm, Independence Creek Advisors, focused on organisational dynamics and human nature.
