What do forests and organizations have in common? Both live or die by their networks.

Beneath the surface of every thriving forest lies its secret to survival: the mycelium. This vast underground fungal network doesn’t just connect roots—it redistributes nutrients, fortifies resilience, and sustains life itself. It’s not optional; it’s essential.

Now, imagine that soil is dead—compacted, stripped of nutrients, lifeless. The trees may still stand, but they’re living on borrowed time, destined to fall without the mycelium to sustain them. And even then, the forest mycelium will reclaim the dead wood. Repurpose, reassign that energy, into more productive efforts. 

The same is true for organizations, cultures, visions.

Without the mycelium of inclusion, cultures harden, innovation withers, and resilience collapses. 

Inclusion isn’t a buzzword or a box to check. It’s the root force that connects your people, sustains your growth, and keeps your organization thriving.

The question isn’t whether inclusion exists in your organization. It does. The question is: are you nourishing it—or letting your culture turn to dust?

Neglecting inclusion in your organization is akin to allowing soil to become barren—leading to stagnation, erosion of trust, and a talent exodus. Here's what happens when inclusion is ignored:

Stagnation and Decay: Without inclusion, organizations lose their edge. Research shows that companies with more diverse leadership teams are 36% more likely to outperform their less diverse peers in profitability.

Erosion of Trust: Performative DEI efforts—those shiny PowerPoint slides and one-off workshops—compacts the soil. Employees see through it, trust erodes, and engagement plummets. In 2024, U.S. employee engagement dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade, with only 30% of employees fully engaged.

Talent Exodus: When the soil is barren, people leave. Employees who do not feel included are more likely to quit, leading to increased turnover costs. Worker attrition and disengagement cost median S&P 500 companies about $282 million annually.

Composting Dead Culture: Turning Failure into Fertile Ground

Good news: dead soil isn’t a death sentence. Composting—breaking down the old, decayed structures—is how we rebuild. Inclusion is the fertilizer that transforms compacted culture into living soil, nourishing every part of the organizational ecosystem.

Here’s how inclusion fuels thriving organizations:

Redistributing Resources: Just as mycelium channels nutrients to the roots that need them most, inclusion ensures opportunities, mentorship, and decision-making power are equitably distributed. This isn’t charity—it’s strategy. Organizations that prioritize equity see stronger engagement and a deeper bench of future leaders ready to grow.

Fostering Resilience: Mycelium helps forests bounce back from droughts, disease, or other disruptions. Similarly, inclusive organizations are far more resilient in times of change. Recent research shows that diverse teams are 36% more likely to outperform their less diverse peers in profitability. Resilience isn’t a buzzword—it’s a competitive edge.

Driving Innovation: Living soil fosters biodiversity, and inclusion fosters diverse perspectives. When people feel valued and heard, ideas thrive. Organizations with inclusive cultures are 75% more likely to bring ideas to market, transforming good intentions into measurable outcomes.

When you compost dead culture—letting outdated practices and power structures decompose—you create the fertile ground inclusion needs to grow. And from there, your organization becomes a thriving, resilient, and innovative ecosystem.

How to Cultivate the Mycelium of Inclusion

Creating living soil doesn’t happen by accident. It requires care, intention, and a willingness to get your hands dirty.

The Mycelium of Inclusion is what connects and nourishes the Seeds of Potential: Integration, Intuition, Independence, Invention, Intention, Inquisitiveness, and Improvisation. When the mycelium flows freely through these seeds, the culture thrives.

This is Our Work. Helping organizations cultivate living cultures where inclusion flows through every seed of potential is at the heart of what we do. If this resonates, we’re always here to talk.

1. Break Up Compacted Soil Stop patching over broken systems with performative gestures. Rip them up. Ask hard questions: Who holds power? Who’s excluded? Why? This is the work of Integration—bringing together diverse perspectives and dismantling silos to create a foundation where everyone belongs.
2. Redistribute Nutrients Equity isn’t about giving everyone the same thing; it’s about giving people what they need to thrive. This is the essence of Intuition and Independence—ensuring individuals have the tools and support to trust their instincts and contribute authentically.
3. Feed the Soil Trust, psychological safety, and belonging are the invisible networks that sustain thriving cultures. This nurtures Invention—the spark that allows creativity and innovation to flourish—and Improvisation, which enables teams to adapt and respond to challenges with agility.
4. Compost the Old Let outdated, extractive practices decompose. The best fertilizer for growth is the failure of what no longer works. This clears space for Inquisitiveness—the curiosity to ask bold questions and challenge assumptions—and Intention, ensuring that new growth aligns with a shared purpose.
5. Measure and Adapt Healthy soil evolves. Inclusion isn’t a checkbox; it’s a living practice. Track progress, listen to feedback, and adjust as needed. This continuous cultivation keeps the Seeds of Potential connected, nourished, and thriving through the Mycelium of Inclusion.

Other Models, Other Paths. While this is our approach, we recognize it’s not the only way. Others in this space bring valuable methods and perspectives that can also foster thriving, inclusive cultures. What matters most is finding an approach that resonates with your organization and sustains the growth of its people.

Dead or Alive: The Choice Is Yours

The mycelium of inclusion is always present, ready to connect, sustain, and strengthen your organization. But like any living system, it requires care. Without intentional cultivation, the network withers, leaving your culture fragile and disconnected.

🥀 Performative Belonging: Performative DEIB is a show with no substance. It severs the network, compacts the soil, and creates the illusion of progress while nothing meaningful grows. Watch the conversations happening now about performative DEI. Listen to the represented voices—they’ll tell you what’s missing.

Performative efforts look like glossy DEI statements, splashy one-off events, or symbolic hires that check boxes without redistributing power. 

Worse, performative DEIB stops and starts with the whims and winds of seasons of power—a cycle that leaves the soil barren and trust shattered. It pacifies critics in the short term but poisons the soil for true, lasting growth.

🌿 Generative Belonging: Generative DEIB, on the other hand, builds and sustains the living system. It composts outdated practices and focuses on creating fertile ground for authentic growth. Generative inclusion redistributes opportunities, builds resilience, and fosters a thriving culture where people and ideas flourish.

🥀 Ignoring Inclusion Entirely: Leaving your DEIB strategy to languish isn’t neutral—it’s actively harmful. Sure, a culture might look stable for a moment, but like a neglected garden, it collapses overnight when the heat of disruption, a talent exodus, or competitive pressure strikes.

When inclusion is ignored, the soil erodes. Roots dry out. What once seemed healthy becomes barren.

🌿 The Generative Path: But composting the old and cultivating inclusion? That’s how you grow a thriving, adaptive ecosystem. Generative DEIB isn’t about optics; it’s about outcomes. It’s the hard work of breaking down what no longer serves, redistributing resources where they’re needed, and ensuring everyone has what they need to thrive.

A forest without living soil isn’t a forest—it’s a collection of dying trees. An organization without inclusion? It’s already collapsing.

The soil is waiting. Will you nourish it—or let it turn to dust?

A Humble Note I approach this work with humility, knowing that growth often requires unlearning as much as learning. I’m not claiming to have the one and only way forward, but I am committed to being a voice for change, equity, and inclusion.

♻️ Share this article to help the Mycelium of Inclusion connect and spread. And if the future of connection and thriving cultures is something you’re passionate about, follow me, Linda Clark, for more conversations or book a call for spirited ideas and discussion.