We still use industrial-age language to describe work: running like clockwork, tightening bolts, and burning the midnight oil. Those phrases made sense when productivity meant turning raw material into widgets. But in an era of climate disruption, AI acceleration, and record-high burnout, a purely mechanical model can’t keep up. It drives us to measure hours instead of impact and speed instead of sustainability.

Today, with artificial intelligence reshaping knowledge work and climate urgency redefining corporate responsibility, it’s time for a new vision of productivity—one centered on human and planetary flourishing, not just output. The next evolution of work demands a shift from efficiency to emergence, from silos to systems, and from time-tracking to meaning-making.

The metaphors we use drive the systems we design. Treat an organization like a machine and you’ll optimize for speed, control, and predictable outputs. Treat it like a living system—dynamic, interdependent, and regenerative—and a different design logic emerges.

Here’s what changes when we swap gears for genes:

Seeing companies this way........

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