Brrrrrng brrrrrng! Look out GDP, girls on bikes coming through. today
The system says growth is good. Apart from all the times it isn't.
Driving carsGood for growth
Riding bikesBad for growth
Being on medicationGood for growth
Staying off medicationBad for growth
A clear-cut forestGood for growth
A living forestBad for growth
Over-consumptionGood for growth
Repair and reuseBad for growth
Reality is, of course, more nuanced than this. But you get the picture. The very things we
need most are regularly pushed aside in blind pursuit of economic growth.
We urgently need to widen the view. To identify what's really important. What we want more of.
That way, 'finances' become the means, not the goal.
Re-imagine
How many girls cycle to school?
Which metrics could steer us towards a future-fit economy? Explore these expert suggestions —
and come up with your own.
Girls Cycling to School
The number of girls biking to school is a simple proxy for wellbeing. If girls can move freely and safely in public space, it signals safety, equality, social trust, and decent living conditions.
Katherine Trebeck,co-founder of the wellbeing economy movement
Life Satisfaction
On a scale from 0 to 10, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole?
This single question captures mental health, security, relationships, and hope for the future.
OECD,World Happiness Report
One Close Friend
The number of people with at least one close friend reflects emotional support, mental health, and long-term wellbeing, all stronger predictors of happiness than income.
Social psychology research
Earthworms per Square Meter
Counting earthworms is a measure of soil health: more worms mean better structure, water retention, nutrient cycling, and long-term fertility — far beyond what conventional yield and agricultural productivity statistics show on their own.
Elaine Ingham,founder of the Soil Food Web approach
Planetary Boundaries-Based Indicators
Tracking whether human activity stays within Earth's safe ecological limits — including climate, biodiversity, land use, freshwater, and pollution — shifts the focus from growth at any cost to stability within limits.
Kate Raworth,creator of Doughnut Economics
Growth isn't a proxy for success, despite what we're told. Reflect on what good really looks
like for you, your organisation and your community. Ask yourself, how could that be measured?
Show me the incentives, and I'll show you the outcome.
Reflect
Every day we make hundreds of decisions. Most without much conscious thought. These choices
are quietly guided by what captures our attention — what's reviewed, what's rewarded, what's
measured. Over time, these decisions take hold. As habits, then priorities. Take a moment to
reflect: what is your work and life designed to produce?
Questions like these can reveal where important forms of value might be missing.
In the next section, we'll examine ways of broadening what gets measured and prioritized.
Does your organisation discuss important long-term risks or impacts more than act upon them?
Does your work bonus system reward short-term profit more than long-term social and environmental value?
Is your organisation mainly judged on short-term financial results?
If you looked back at today from ten years in the future, would your current priorities still make sense?
If someone looked at your calendar, would they understand what you truly care about?
Do you regularly measure the things you'd most miss if they suddenly disappeared?
Experiment
Measure what matters
Change what you measure and you can change what we get. Test out different ways to challenge
what's really important — which one works best for you?
Inspiration
See who's already redirecting efforts beyond short-term growth — and how they do it.