Research Supports "The Power of the Flower" in Our Lives and in Our Work (The Financial and Economic Benefits of Greenery)

The Power of Flower Picture
The Wooded Pathway Gallery

What is the power of the flower? Researchers have known for a long time that nature has benefits to our health and psychological perspective. Yet we are unsure of how flowers can improve corporate performance. One might wonder if we put flowers within our workspaces and homes whether we would obtain some of their advantages. Applied psychology often delves into such topics to find connections between things that may not be at first apparent (i.e. this is where stats often come into play). 

Business executives should persistently look for ways to improve their financial bottom line. As bizarre as it sounds, sometimes new ideas are as easy as smelling the roses. Whether one is a flower lover or a weed warrior we might consider whether there could be financial advantages of flowers. Thinking out of the box, especially a planters box, with a systems mindset can help see the contribution of different factors throughout an organization (I'm not advocating for or against flowers but advocate for trying to see things in new perspectives and diverse vantage points.)

For example, if $50 of desk plants (i.e. planting more flowers in the workplace, green pictures, etc.) for employees every quarter led to $5,000 in improved performance then one might consider implementing a reimbursement program for plants companywide. If there is not enough available information to make a decision, an executive might design/commission a study to determine the potential advantages and impact of flowers/plants. If statistically significant (promising), consider replicating and/or retesting the study to a broader organizational pool. 

To investor not invest in plants is not the central point (Maybe flowers are or are not better than a free lunch once a quarter or swag). It is that applied psychology can have an impact on what we understand, how we make decisions and that such research is often tied to longer term trends in multiple environmental contexts. Much of those decisions will likely come down to dollars and cents for businesses but there are social considerations as well that may not be easily calculated today but could have financial consequences later. Each company must decide what is important for them, their employees and communities at the time they are making a decision. This delves into something called Behavioral Economics which is a topic we can discuss at a later date and time.  

A Business and Virtual Worker Benefits of Plants and Flowers

Flowers and plants not only may reduce stress but also can improve productivity. 'Research shows flowers can boost productivity when working from home'

Indicates plants improve performance productivity 15% and reduces stress (This is where we can go down a line of thinking such as asking questions relate to how much do plants reduced stress impact medical benefits, retention, etc. in addition to productivity to uncover possible hidden long-tail value.). 'Exclusive research shows the impact of plants on work productivity'

The Community Benefit of Plants

The Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) indicates that things like trees can impact our communities, investments, business and much more. It indicates that plants could potentially determine opportunity (You can see the difference in greenery between rich and poor.). 'For More Equitable and Livable Cities, Consider Trees'

The National Benefits of Plants

We discuss plants and work, plants and community and we can discuss the potential economic benefits of plants to the macro economy (This is not an endorsement of lack thereof of any policy). Business leaders should be aware of government policy as a legal/regulatory issue but also help them understand some of the science used to make such macro decisions and in turn how those decisions impact general trends. Investing in Nature to Solve Today’s Challenges'

A Few Thoughts on Studies and Publications

Within this article we looked at a few studies and a few publications. In any article we may need to further look at the limitations of the studies. That will require moving beyond the general publication and into reading the scientific study itself. If you trace these articles back far enough you will eventually run into a scientist and/or a scientific publication. Sometimes you can request the data and other times you cannot (i.e. proprietary) The stronger the studies, and the more studies saying/find similar things, then the greater the credibility of the arguments. Always be aware of alternative arguments of explanation. At this point it looks like greenery will be a globally hot topic of discussion (maybe just a globally warm topic😳🙊💨).