Phipps Conservatory: Regenerative Thinking

How Regenerative Thinking Helped the 128-year-old Phipps Conservatory Survive the Pandemic

Since first opening in 1893, Phipps’ mission has been to be the place where people discover the beauty of humanity living in harmony with nature. Like many non-profit organizations in the Pittsburgh area, the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Conservatory was closed entirely for two and a half months during their busiest weeks of the year. These closures combined with attendance restrictions throughout the pandemic greatly reduced revenue that the organization depended upon to fund programs. 

In response, Phipps took a regenerative approach to the impact of the pandemic and transformed it into an opportunity to make the organization stronger. In regenerative thinking, when activating and restraining forces meet, conventional thinking views this as a conflict and responds with compromise, which results in mutual loss. Instead, Phipps used that tension to reconcile those forces and create something new. To approach this as a conflict could have resulted in losses, shuttered programs, and staff layoffs; Phipps’ recognition of the opportunity to retool the organization allowed all staff to reach a higher potential and focus on work that made the organization stronger and more resilient for the future. Phipps’ senior leadership, including President & CEO Richard Piacentini, will walk us through how regenerative thinking was used to make the organization and this Pittsburgh cultural landmark stronger than before the pandemic. This on-site event will be held on November 16th at 5:00 pm.

Members of the HBSCP (and a guest) attend free.  Non-member HBS alums and other guests pay $25.00. (PayPal connects you to pay with your credit card).