3 Reasons to Reimagine Work Through the Wisdom of Nature
A personal journey into the science of human thriving and living systems
Burnout is a deeply human experience. But renewal is universal—reflected in the way rivers change course, trees shed leaves, and ecosystems regenerate.
My own story of renewal began in nature, where the landscape showed me that strength and flow are part of life’s design. When I first sketched out Canon Collaborative, I wasn’t aiming to develop new frameworks or organizational theories. My search began with a simple question: How could we design organizations that honored natural human strength?
The search felt personal. I wanted my own strengths to move more freely in the world. But it was also practical. I believed trust was the critical variable for effectiveness, and saw connecting team strengths to the mission as a strategic way to build it.
What I didn’t realize then was that this search would evolve into something much larger. Through following the patterns I observed, I discovered three reasons why reimagining work through the wisdom of nature matters so deeply — for individuals, for organizations, and for our collective future.
Reason #1: Strength Is Something Innate & Natural
Canon Collaborative’s earliest spark traces back to 2012, when I first learned about my CliftonStrengths. That discovery gave me language to understand the burnout I was experiencing.
I loved my job, but it also drained me. Some of my strengths were alive and in motion, while others were stifled or exploited. Over time, this imbalance left me depleted — burned out with little sense of how to recover.
Time and space to reflect on my strengths shifted my perspective. Burnout wasn’t a sign of weakness. It was a signal that my strengths weren’t in alignment with how my work and life were designed.
While spending a lot of time outdoors, I began to observe my strengths as natural patterns — unique currents that, when given freedom and purpose, generate vitality and trust. Reconnecting to my strengths became the pathway to revitalizing my spirit.
Reason #2: Healing & Renewal Begin in Nature
In the years that followed, I continued the quest — noticing patterns of destruction in organizations both in the scandals of the news and in my own lived experience. It wasn’t easy. As the professionals say, our suffering often flows into our awakening.
During this time, I spent countless hours outside. I learned more about farming and the rhythms that sustain life and production. A mentor, passionate about soil, introduced me to the kingdom of fungi and its intricate role in cultivating thriving ecosystems. I was fascinated — immersed in the wild interconnections of nature — all the while my strengths were encountering significant new challenges.
Awareness of my strengths became a daily support in the road to navigating the unknown. Again and again, nature showed me that renewal is not a fluke; it’s a design principle. Trust, resilience, and vitality are nurtured when we align with those rhythms. Self-trust is created when we can understand that we are both being and becoming in every moment we are awake and interacting with the unknown elements of life. We get to build upon our strength every time they meet a new challenge – this is the promise of nature.
Reason #3: The Best Way to Organize Human Systems Is the Way Nature Organizes Herself
While the seeds for Canon Collaborative were planted in 2012, it did not formally emerge until 2020. Watching the pandemic unfold made clear the critical state of the world’s poorly designed and extractive systems. The Great Resignation and all the iterations that have followed have only underscored the point: people are longing for workplaces that see them as whole human beings, not just parts of a machine. I wanted to create a welcoming brand that honored the nature of every person — shifting the conversation from efficiency and extraction to creativity, trust, and wellbeing.
That determination drew me deeper into nature’s design. Exploring Fibonacci sequences, the golden ratio, and fractal patterns eventually led me to something called the Constructal Law — a principle of physics that explains how all living systems evolve to optimize flow. Within months I reached out to its discoverer, Professor Adrian Bejan, who became both mentor and friend. Having grown up under the devastation of World War II, Adrian understands in a profound way the importance of honoring and releasing our one-of-a-kind human spirit. Together we explored how this law, visible in trees, rivers, and lungs, could also be applied to human organizations. In time, I presented this work at Constructal Law conferences in Italy and Romania, where it was recognized as the first effort to humanize the law.
The best way to organize systems is modeled in the way nature organizes herself: with freedom, diversity, and hierarchy in balance. What began as a personal quest became a framework that bridges the physics of flow, positive psychology, and living systems science. Today, it continues to grow into an approach that helps leaders and organizations design cultures where trust, wellbeing, and creativity flow more freely.
The Invitation
Strength is natural. Healing begins in nature. And the best way to organize human systems is the way nature organizes herself.
With work claiming so much of our lives, I believe it is the best place to revolutionize our experience in ways that matter — for our happiness, fulfillment, and survival. At Canon Collaborative, we work with individuals and organizations to cultivate that same natural design — building conditions where people and systems thrive in harmony.
If you’ve felt the strain of burnout or the longing for more vitality in your work, I invite you to ground in your strengths and step into flow. Wherever you begin, your strengths matter — and they’re waiting to move.
