How the moon can help you grow your business: the rise of the biodynamic organisation
Successful businesses of the future will be those that work in harmony with Nature. Here is a guest blog by Leadership Coach Liz Rivers covering a particular aspect of Nature’s rhythm’s – that of the moon.
A huge untapped resource of nature-based energy which is consistently overlooked is the power of working in alignment with the phases of the moon.
Proponents of biodynamic agriculture know that if they sow and reap in tune with the waxing or waning of the moon they will get better results than agriculturalists who simply ignore this rhythm. I love the biodynamic eggs I buy at the local farmers market – I have no doubt they are vastly superior to anything I can buy at the supermarket.
We know that the moon has all sorts of influences on earth, both on nature, such as the tides, and on human behaviour (there is more crime around time of full moon). Yet this influence goes largely unremarked and is particularly invisible in the business world. Unless I make an effort to pay attention I have no idea what the phase of the moon is – especially living in a large city.
Our calendar honours solar cycles through the length of the day and the year, but when it comes to the phases of the moon we are fundamentally out of rhythm because we have a 12 month calendar yet there are 13 cycles of the moon in a solar year.
As any musician will tell you, rhythm is the bedrock of good music. It is impossible for musicians to collaborate and produce great music together if the rhythm is off, you can have the best melodies in the world but the music will sound horrible unless you are all playing in rhythm.
The 12 month calendar was invented by Julius Ceasar at the time when the Roman republic was becoming a colonial empire, as a way of coordinating the subjugation of its conquered people – it represents a tool of domination rather than democracy. The number 13 has been demonised ever since.
Women have a physical reminder of the lunar cycle through their own fertility cycle.
Much has been said recently about the importance of women’s leadership at this time and that the leaders of the future (whether male or female) will embody what we think of as “feminine” qualities. In my view, a powerful fast track to embodying feminine leadership is working consciously with the rhythms of the moon.
What if we applied this to how we organise our individual work lives and to fostering collaboration in our teams and organisations? We’ve had biodynamic agriculture for about 100 years – is it now time for the biodynamic organisation?
So how does this work in practice?
There are three distinct phases to the lunar cycle:
New moon
Waxing moon (up to full moon)
Waning moon (down to new moon)
New moon: This is a time for reviewing the past month and setting goals for the coming month. (day 1)
Waxing moon: from the day after new moon in till full moon (2-14 days) – put ideas out, initiate new projects, make connections with people, promote activities and products you want to generate support for.
Waning moon: Day after full moon to day before new moon (15-28)
reap the harvest of what you have sown, tie up loose ends, finish things off and clear the decks.
Repeat the cycle again.
Simple yet powerful .
How to apply this?
Individual level:
Try it out yourself and see what you notice
Women who are pre-menopause can also apply this model to their fertility cycles, which is our embodied reminder of the cycles of the moon. Rather than seeing it as an inconvenience you can transform it into a source of power and creativity.
Teams:
Use it to establish a rhythm for team planning, activity and review
Ask individual team members to experiment with the model and track their results
Notice what effect it has on team cohesion and performance
If you would like a more detailed worksheet of how to work with this cycle please get in touch and I will send it to you. let’s start a movement!
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Liz Rivers is a leadership coach who works with women and men who wish to embrace the feminine in their leadership styles and who are committed to challenging the status quo of business as usual, creating businesses that serve the wider Earth Community. She does this through sharing powerful ideas and creating communities of purpose, both online and offline.
The Nature of Business 
Reblogged this on liz rivers and commented:
Check out my guest blog at The Nature of Business
Great piece, Liz! I’ve also been experimenting with aligning business plans, decisions, actions and review points with lunar cycles for the past few years – and have been pleasantly surprised at how useful it can be, working with the character of these phases. Timing really is everything – knowing when and when not to act is key. And, as you suggest, it is better to work with the flow of nature – every time. A very helpful article: thank you for sharing.