The idea

Stepping away from a world constrained by value-in-exchange thinking and into progress enables the circular economy.

Its the answer to the Ellen MacArthur foundation’s challenge.

…one of the biggest challenges…to transition from linear to circular is that it requires…revisiting the very notion of value creation

Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2023) “From ambition to action: an adaptive strategy for circular design”

Let’s see why and how.

editing below here

Parallels between goods economy embed-exchange-destroy and linear economy take-make-waste.

The progress economy:

• takes our mindset beyond focussing on a point of exchange
• encourages helpers to
  • encapsulate skills and knowledge of reuse, recycle etc into any goods elements of their resource mix along with functional skills and knowledge
  • explore shifting the resource mix away from including goods
  • update their ways of working
  • see the potential for extended propositions

Our offerings can then reimagine the resource mix to reduce the reliance on goods. For example, physical resources can be transformed into physical resources inna platform as a service, or their lifespan can be extended by leveraging digital twin technology. It’s also possible to explore alternative resource types that eliminate the need for goods altogether in the offering.

Additionally, helpers can play a role in guiding seekers on how to recycle, reuse, or repurpose goods. Once that becomes part of progress sought then helpers will see how to fulfil it. Goods then freeze both skills and knowledge for their functional role. As well as skills and knowledge of how to recycle, reuse etc. Helpers will also be tempted to expand their offering to include those circular activities, or link with other helpers who can.

However, let’s not overlook an important aspect that we casually skipped over. To drive circular progress, there must be a sufficient number of seekers actively seeking this progress. It’s not enough for individuals to simply express their interest; they must be willing to engage in equitable service exchanges.