🌱 When People Grow, Business Grows

– Why Inner Development is becoming a strategic priority

It’s easy to say that people are our most important resource.
But what does that actually mean in practice?

More and more organisations are beginning to realise that the ability to grow, adapt and perform in a complex world depends not just on strategy, but on the inner capacity of their people. That’s where the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) come in – as a framework for developing the human skills needed to succeed in a changing world.

One of the most inspiring cases right now is Icebug – a Swedish outdoor company that decided to walk the talk.

Icebug’s journey with Inner Development Goals

Over the past two years, Icebug has implemented the IDG framework across the entire organisation as part of a strategic development process. Their ambition? Not just to create a healthy and value-driven culture – but to make inner development part of how they do business.

They’ve worked actively with all five IDG dimensions:
🟢 Being – developing self-awareness and resilience
🔵 Thinking – cultivating long-term perspective and complexity awareness
🟡 Relating – strengthening empathy, humility and psychological safety
🟣 Collaborating – improving communication, co-creation and inclusion
🔴 Acting – encouraging courage, creativity and perseverance

But most importantly:
They didn’t just talk about development.
They measured it.

What they measured – and why It matter

Throughout the process, Icebug used regular assessments to track development in three key areas:

1. Psychological safety and trust
   Employees reported feeling safer to speak up, make mistakes, and challenge ideas. This led to more honest dialogue and a deeper sense of belonging.
2. Openness to Change and diversity
   By cultivating empathy and listening, Icebug experienced a shift toward greater openness, curiosity, and resilience when facing change – both individually and collectively.
3. Optimism and energy
   As people grew in self-awareness and meaning, the organisation as a whole gained momentum. Employees reported feeling more optimistic about the future and more engaged in the mission.

In other words: “When people grow, the business grows ”

Why this is not “Soft” work

Too often, inner development is seen as something nice to have – a luxury for when everything else is running smoothly.

But in reality, it’s the opposite.
Investing in human growth is a hardcore strategic move🎯

Because what really drives results in complex environments is not rigid processes or control mechanisms – it’s trust, initiative, creativity and collaboration. And these are all inner capacities that can be cultivated.

With tools like the Inner Development Kit – which includes dialogue cards, strength cards and an assessment model – organisations now have a practical, evidence-based way to develop these qualities in everyday settings.

From insight to impact

At Inner Development by Sara Øllgaard, we help leaders, teams and consultants use the IDG framework to build a process for more human, meaningful and effective organisations. Processes that leads to human growth: higher self-awareness, engagement, courage, balance and well-being – which results in measurable business growth.

If you’re curious to explore how your organisation can grow by growing your people – and measure it – we invite you to:

👉 Join our upcoming IDG Workshop on May 8th in Copenhagen, where you can meet ICEBUG
👉 Book a talk or facilitation session tailored to your leadership team
👉 Follow us on LinkedIn

– Because in the end, culture isn’t what you say. It’s what you do – and how you grow.

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