Several years ago, Gretchen Rubin selected the word infrastructure as her word of the year.
Before that, the concept never really crossed my mind.
Infrastructure is the basic physical and organizational systems needed to operate businesses, cities, nations, and even our homes.
A professional education course I took at MIT titled “Sustainable Infrastructure Systems: Planning and Operations” and it has me thinking even deeper about the infrastructure and systems in our lives.
My Perspective
I believe that most of our infrastructure goes unnoticed every day.
We rely on the systems that have always been there to handle our basic needs.
We rarely consider whether the system is weak or if there is a better way.
What if we started to explore the infrastructure of our lives and looked for new possibilities?
We could consider the infrastructure of our homes.
From daily living systems like doing the dishes to areas like grocery shopping and home maintenance.
We could look at the infrastructure of our company or our day-to-day responsibilities.
For those who have their own business or side hustle, we could look at all the connected systems.
From our website to our email platform, social media, and more.
Considering these often-forgotten systems could lead to enhancements and innovation.
When looking at the infrastructure, consider the impact on the triple bottom line.
How could we improve in ways that lighten the impact on people, the planet, and profit?
In our homes the profit is “our pocketbook”.
Your Turn
What infrastructure in your life needs improvement?
How could you evaluate what is going well and what needs change?
Is there any way you could take a small step today to improve infrastructure in your life?