Disruptive business regeneratively
Stop playing like a machine | Start playing like Nature
We help you create a disruptive regenerative business. We play in the intersection of biomimicry, ecology, ethics and systems thinking, to take you through the process of re/designing your business model, strategy, and innovations, regeneratively. Why? So you have the tools and tech skills to disrupt your world, regeneratively.
We call this Disruptive Design 3.8
#beyond circular
The problem we solve
There are two disruption games being played by business right now. A small “faster, better, cheaper” game, with sustainability as a bolt-on of carbon calculations, circular efficiencies and ESG tick boxes. And a bigger game, played by those harnessing Nature’s genius. The problem is most of us are playing the small game.
Why? Because the strategy and innovation tools we’re told to use are hardwired to a 20th-century world view deeply disconnected from the science of living systems. And most talking heads are distracted by this year’s bright and shiny tech toy.
This means our lens on disruptive futures ignores bigger dynamic forces, and we end up strategically flaky, stewing in a pressure cooker of risks, and blinkered from seeing the bigger regenerative opportunities, hidden in plain sight.
Which game are you playing?
If we’re designing for product-market fit, we’re exposed. If we’re chasing unfair competitive advantage, we’re exposed. If our approach to design thinking is human-centered design, we’re exposed. If sustainability is a compliance, brand or stakeholder management bolt-on, we’re exposed. If our points of leverage are built off a zero sum mindset, we’re exposed. If our tech is based on binary bits, we’re exposed.
The 180° Disruption Flip
To play the bigger game we have to upskill our dynamic capabilities; how well we can sense and seize value potential and value risk. But global research shows we’re not so good at this (USA. NZ. China. Sweden. Brazil. Spain.). Which is a big, big problem, because right now we’re going through the biggest revaluation of natural ‘capital’ since the dawn of capitalism. All our thinking about value, disruption, and how we design our business, has to do a 180° flip. If we want to step into our disruptive power, we have to rethink our thinking, and redo our doing.
“In the 2020s, key tech will completely disrupt the five foundational sectors underpinning the global economy, and with them every major industry in the world today. The knock-on effects are profound, as are the extraordinary possibilities that will emerge.” - Tony Seba, RethinkX
different lens. different language. different logic. different leverage points. different level-up.
“Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we've been ignorant of their value”. – Buckminster Fuller
The t.METHOD
The t.METHOD™ is a training methodology to help you create a disruptive regenerative business. It curates and synthesizes the latest in Biomimicry, Ecology, Ethics and Systems design, and guides you step-by-step through the process of re/designing your business model, strategy, and innovations, regeneratively.
It is designed for the new wave of disruptors, wanting to unlock their regenerative power; change agents wanting the inside-track on what to do, how to do it, and how to think about it.
Disruptive Design 3.8
1. Clear process.
A proven 10 step process that creates your new regenerative business blueprint:
Discover your ecosystem, ecological value chain, customers and network potential. Distil your purpose. Design your value proposition and operating model (product service system). Define your marketing mix and your monetization model. Lastly, develop your take-forward strategy.
I know what to do, in what sequence.
2. Clear principles.
You get a curated compass of regenerative principles to help you level up and leverage your untapped potential:
Biomimicry design. Ecology design. Ethics design. Systems design. All rooted in te ao Māori principles. All based on the 3.8 billion years of Life’s proven R&D strategies.
Synthesized seamlessly for value creation.
I know how to think about it, to make the right decisions.
3. Clear, easy tools.
You get a curated toolkit of practical support, every step of your journey:
Templates, visual models, how-to guided videos, real case study examples, traps, tropes & BS to avoid, hidden keys, impact assessments, decision criteria and more. So you can apply it to your business, real life, real time.
Practitioner crafted - no fluff, no waffle, no BS.
I know how to do it.
Is the t.METHOD for you?
The t.METHOD™ is not for those who gravitate to small “faster, better, cheaper” strategies. Or greenwashing. The t.METHOD™ is for change agents, agitating to disrupt their world regeneratively. It’s for impact players who want to play at the bleeding edge, who understand that disruptive futures are not based on binary bits, but biological atoms.
You don’t have to be entrepreneur, but you have to have an entrepreneurial mindset, and be committed to leaning into the tension. The good news is this isn’t a finite game, exploiting finite resources. It’s an infinite game, using infinite resources. It’s how Nature works. And it’s way more fun.
Transformers
Exec level Transformation leads.
Disruptors
Start Up founders.
Agitators
Business Influencers.
Abundance is not an abstract concept. It is one of Nature’s core building blocks.
Practitioner created, from in the arena
The t.METHOD™ is created by Melissa Wragge, a regenerative business transformation specialist and a globally recognised system-design thinker, schooled in the UK in the 1990s before Design Thinking was a thing.
Her entire 25+ year career has been leading big strategy, innovation and business model transformations across different industries and sizes, from global blue chips and institutional corporates to start ups and NGOs.
The last 15 years Melissa has played on the regenerative side helping businesses disrupt their world for environmental, social and health justice. Most awarded for taking Ecostore from hippy-fringe to global cool, she believes in business as a force for good.
She’s set up 10s of transformation teams, trained 100s of execs and entrepreneurs, and has spent 10,000s of hours practicing disruptive design. Not as a management consultant or academic, but as a practitioner in the arena.
During Covid, Melissa decided to turn her 10 year side gig of training, into her main gig. She went deep in research, curating the divergent models she uses, undertook a U.S. Masters in Biomimicry, and then synthesized it all into the t.METHOD™, testing ongoing with clients and students. Now, in 2024, she’s ready to help the new wave of disruptors re/design their world, regeneratively.
Melissa is an accredited NZ Regional Business Partner Network service provider. She teaches Masters students in Applied Innovation at Academy EX, is a Business Coach at The Icehouse and an MBA guest lecturer at Auckland University. More.
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“Melissa transformed us into a marketing led company, which she completed with aplomb, and will serve us for years to come. She transformed our product ranges, our brand, our design, our communications......Her winning awards is a testament to her transformation. She is leaving behind a strong platform for future growth.”
Malcolm Rands, Founder ecostore
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“Melissa’s energy, eye for detail, empathy and experience have led me to believe she is a real world walking Wonder Woman! Within a short-time frame Melissa was able to help me craft the right business plan and strong brand positioning to attract investment and move forward into early stage market entry. Without her help I would have struggled to get to where I am now!”
Angus Brown, Founder Ārepa
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“Melissa’s expertise in design-led thinking is outstanding. She is challenging, rigorous and super strategic, with an incisive understanding of an organization's un-realized potential. Her process was revelatory. The way I thought about value was incorrect - both the challenge and the opportunity were bigger. Her process brought this into sharp focus. Melissa operates at the top of her craft, with the upmost integrity.”
Dr Sandy Callister, World Vision Board
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“It is hard to express just how incredible Melissa's program was. Her structured design-thinking and solid marketing background has given me a base to completely redesign my business. It has truly exceeded all of my expectations — my new business strategy is grounded in research and deep thinking; driven by the dual goals of profitability and purpose."
Sophie Poelman, Founder Studio Alida
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“Melissa has been a super power. She served up gold. She has this amazing way of getting to the core essence of any market or design question. Her insights are world leading. Her process and frameworks help you make quality decisions. It's led to a change in our agenda forward, and the results speak for themselves. She’s engaging, empathetic, purpose driven and challenging - and she cares deeply.”
Andy Hamilton, CEO The Icehouse
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"Melissa is the real deal. Bundled in an effervescent parcel of infectious optimism, Melissa has a rare ability to cut through rhetoric and business myths to pinpoint the true strategic, commercial, problems."
Helen Carter, CEO Cancer Society
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"Melissa has been instrumental in helping us unlock our innovation potential. She has an uncanny ability to cut through big problems to identify what’s broken, what works and what can fly. She can see value potential and knows how to unlock it."
Richard Wyeth, CEO Miraka
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"Melissa is quite simply a world class design practitioner. I was consistently impressed with her ability to balance strategic and commercial demands within rapidly evolving environments."
Abraham Gibson, Board Member World Vision
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“It was a real privilege to work with Melissa as I looked at transforming an idea into reality. She helped me discover potential I hadn’t even thought of. Her method has this unique ability to connect the dots, which is such a useful and easy framework to follow. This was hugely valuable for my business strategy and I’m so appreciative!”
Jayne Chater, Founder Altris and Professionelle
