Respiration is one of the most important systemic aspects of living organisms. It represents a commitment to give and receive. At a simplistic level, we humans 'export' Carbon Dioxide and 'import' Oxygen. Our fusion partners, plants normally 'export' Oxygen and 'import' Carbon Dioxide. This highlights the fact that we are not separate from the system, but a component in the ecosystem.

Business is exactly the same, though the way some companies behave would seem to suggest that they think they can take and take without giving anything in return. The depletion of our fishing stocks is a sobering reminder of the fact that we live in a 'closed' system. In the same way a balance of giving and receiving must be achieve in business.

Living Organisations are committed to a win-win relationship with suppliers, customers, employees and shareholders.

How does your organisation express inter-dependency within its environment? There are many altruistic ways to do this - giving to the community. However, whilst I support this, we have to be aware of the bottom-line too. I believe there is commercial advantage to be gained through collaborative inter-change. Once again this overlaps with other principles such as 'Growth' making the model more robust.

Summary

The most important thought here is to recognise that your organisation is not an island in isolation from its environment. Everything is connected in some way. What I do impacts upon your life, and vice versa. In a very important sense, this means that there is no true freedom - we are all influencing one another's well-being directly and indirectly. It is therefore important to behave responsibly and make sure we operate a policy of fair exchange.