The Clean and Green Club

Failure as compost–I think that may be the best business metaphor I’ve ever come across! If you’re a non-gardener–compost is all the rotting bits of old food scraps, spoiled vegetables, and so forth. It’s not very appealing in its early stages, but as it ages, it turns into the most fertile soil imaginable. It also works well with her philosophy of reaching for the truth, even when it’s not pleasant.

While that’s my favorite metaphor in The Organic Entrepreneur, there’s plenty more: the entrepreneur as alchemist, the business as a habitat.

Other gardening principles Hyndman incorporates into her business philosophy–the book is organized into psychological business “seasons”–include patience, integrity, and a Green sensibility. Plus seven principles for “spirits seeking human experiences”–a nifty reversal–along with more principles for understanding business as Tao, and for finding abundance in your core principles.

This book is very much in tune with the philosophy I express in Principled Profit: Marketing that Puts People First–though it’s more about the overall business concept and less hands-on. A very nice complement to Principled Profit, and recommended for anyone struggling to find and express their values within business.

Click here to get your copy.

The Organic Entrepreneur: Cultivating the Conscious Capitalist

by Maxine Hyndman

Insomniac Press, 2007