‘Business bashing’ seems to be a common pastime with corporations getting the blame for everything from pollution, climate change, destruction of the natural world through to waging and maintaining war. In short, just about all the ills of the world are apparently on the hands of big business.
Is business really that powerful and that destructive?
It’s driven many of the rapid advances in our standard of living over the last few hundred years. So yes, it is powerful! These advances (mainly enjoyed by the minority of the world’s population) have come with many, unpleasant side effects. So, yes, it is also destructive.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the power of business could be harnessed in a different way? A way that doesn’t extract such a high price from the majority of mankind and from our planet?
Behind every business …
Blaming business doesn’t really get to the core of the problem as it’s a convenient facade to hide behind.
Much of the complexity of the business world is nothing more than smoke and mirrors hiding a way of organising people (sometimes very large numbers) to do together, more than they can do on their own. It’s a way of bringing people together to create value, and, through the market economy, pass that value on – which was made a whole lot easier with the invention of money.
Isn’t that what it ultimately boils down to?
All the time we’re pointing the finger at ‘corporations’, we’re not talking to the people behind the face of the the corporation. Business is people – always was and always will be.
‘Business’ itself doesn’t do anything – people do. Many may have a legal identity of their own, but they have no life of their own – people do. Organisations don’t make decisions, that’s what people do. And businesses don’t wage war, rape the environment and pollute the planet. PEOPLE do!
I’m convinced that these are not bad people and they are not deliberately wreaking havoc and destruction on the world. In the many years I spent in large corporations, I don’t remember ever meeting someone who was hell bent on devastation or intent on causing pain and suffering.
What I did notice were three things that I believe contribute to some people apparently not caring about the world.
1 Leaving your heart at home
A few days ago I was sitting behind two businessmen on a train. I really wasn’t eavesdropping, they were talking loud enough for everyone to hear who chose to. I don’t know exactly what they did or what their responsibility was but they were talking about problems with one of their businesses caused by the economic squeeze. They could have been venture capitalists, or something like that. Before anyone writes to tell me that they couldn’t have been venture capitalists because of x, y and z … I’ll just say that I have little idea what a venture capitalist does, it just sounded good.
“It’s not a problem. I’ll just tell the 4 of them they don’t have jobs any more,” said one.
What struck me most, was that he laughed as he said this. It could have been nervous laughter, but from the way the two of them were talking it didn’t seem like it. In any case, his tone was light and cheerful. Business as usual.
How can someone talk so lightly, even with amusement, about telling someone they no longer have a job?
There seems to be unwritten rule that when we walk into the workplace, we are expected to leave the majority of our emotional world at home – especially that part connected with compassion. Typically we’re employed for our bodies or minds, but rarely for our hearts.
The man on the train had clearly left his heart somewhere.
2 Fear
Despite all the talk about empowerment and employee ownership, most business remains firmly autocratic, hierarchical and strangely resistant to democracy. In my experience few bosses deliberately use fear to get things done. There are some around, but they really don’t need to.
Fear is built into the structure of most organisations.
Most people I talk to are not motivated to work solely for money or position (a rare few are) but they do value the sense of security they have from a ’steady job’. It takes a lot of courage to disobey, disagree with or even speak your mind to your boss when you don’t like how things are going. If that applies to the small things, then it’s even harder to speak up against the corporation you work for.
It’s easy to say, “If you don’t like what your company does, then leave” – but for many people, while clearly a choice, that’s a frightening step.
Fear steps in.
On a day to day basis, the boss influences and decides promotions, pay increases and many other things. The boss can punish and can reward and whenever those two appear, fear is not far away. Fear of getting punished, fear of not getting rewarded.
Fear is built into business as a tool to get things done.
Would fear be needed if everything we did in the name of business made the world a better place?
3 Distracted from purpose
I think business has simply got off track.
There are many reasons why it’s happened. The dominance of the financial systems lead to short term focus on what’s easily measurable (profit, share prices etc). Intense competition in many areas of business require hard, aggressive tactics to maintain market position – and hard, aggressive tactics are rarely high in the compassion stakes.
There are surely plenty of reasons why business has generally lost sight of its purpose. It is there, just hidden under surplus layers of commerce and an obsession with short term gain.
We’ve forgotten that behind all business is an intention to create value and serve life.
And we’re all part of it in some way. Whether you work in a business or just buy stuff from business you can make a difference.
Be clear on purpose, carry your heart with you always and act out of love, not fear.
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Hi Ian,
I have often wondered about this too. I think many business people start out with the belief that they will be ethnical and moral but then they get sucked into the pressures and they lose sight of their original intention. I think a lot of it has to do with the people who are in charge. If the person at the top just cares about profit, then that trickles down to the employees. If the person at the top cares about being ethical and making a difference, that trickles down too.
There are a lot of people out there who would love to be compassionate and kind but for some reason, they think that means that they will not get anywhere. It is quite sick but I do think more and more companies are changing their ways as a result of what is happening in the world. There is a great book that deals with this and it is called “Be the Solution”. You may like to read it because it goes into a new formula for business which is based on being conscious and aware.
Hope all is awesome.
I really enjoyed this post. I particularly liked you pointing out the fact that businesses are just a collection of people. There isn’t this evil entity called business floating about. It’s just an organization of people.
I believe that by and large, most businesses and corporations are very good. At the root they organize people to produce goods and services in a cost efficient manner. No man is an island. Working together, we humans can accomplish much more than any one person working alone. Profit maximization is not evil. It is the same as cost minimization. How can I do the same job cheaper? It provides the incentives for innovation, invention, and pushes people to think creatively.
I think your observation that sometimes people just leave their heart at home is really key here. Not just in business, but in all areas of day-to-day life. So many people in the world have just stopped caring. They’ve stopped caring about other people, and they’ve stopped caring about the world around them. It’s almost like people get caught up in their own little world, in their own little bubble of experience, and they stop caring about whatever lies outside of that little bubble. In my opinion, this is the true root of all evil in the world…
I’ve got to second what Jay said here… so many people have just stopped caring altogether. Maybe it’s to avoid feeling, and getting hurt in the process. Maybe it’s because no one else seems to care, so it’s a dog eat dog world. I don’t know, but it’s got to change or we’re in big trouble.
Fear is a powerful motivator, Ian, especially these days. My hubby is one of those that would desperately like to leave his firm. He’s done that a few times in the past and everything worked out fine… but jobs were a dime a dozen. Now there’s a very real possibility that if he leaves he won’t find another job for a long time… particularly since he’s been trying for a long time. So yeah, the fear of ending up homeless and starving is a bit of a negative motivator for us. I wish I knew how to get around that.
PS: Why does it feel like everything comes down to money, one way or another?
Thanks for this Ian — I’ve definitely observed people “leaving their hearts at home” when they get into the office as well — not just when it comes to repressing their anger or sadness, but also any sense of joy in what they’re doing. I’ve wondered for some time if this has to do with the general way we think of emotion in our culture — that people who are emotionally expressive are “childish,” and adults are always on an even keel. Like Jay said I see this mentality outside the workplace as well.
Ian,
Great observations. Businesses do seem so impersonal, which is funny because as you pointed out, every business is just a collection of people. Purpose is probably the most important – once you remember that, you act out of love, and with heart. I’m encouraged by the rise of social entrepreneurship. It reminds us how most business start – by making the world a better place… before those business lost their heart and focused on profit.
Anger needs to be expressed in a healthy way. People sometimes need a faceless entity to vent their frustrations benignly. Their objection to corporations is the unswerving devotion to profit over considerations to human resources. As illustrated by the recent downturn, the corporate paradigm has resulted in job loss, which has a trickle-down affect on local economies.
Anger needs to be expressed in a healthy way. People sometimes need a faceless entity to vent their frustrations benignly. Their objection to corporations is the unswerving devotion to profit over considerations to human resources. As illustrated by the recent downturn, the corporate paradigm has resulted in job loss, which has a trickle-down affect on local economies.
Sorry, forgot to add great post! Can’t wait to see your next post!
Excellent insights Ian! I think you have correctly identified some of the issues around business as usual.
@Nadia I think it was the Dalai Lama who remarked that we value compassion above most things in our private lives, and value it so little in our public lives. The good news is that if we are aware of it, we can do something about it.
@Vi I fully agree. I don’t think there is an evil plot afoot to destroy the world. The organisations we call businesses have developed to fill a particular need. I do think that many structural and cultural aspects of business could do with changing .. the greater their power, the more potential they have for creation and for destruction. Many structures (eg valuing short term profit over long term, measuring cost in purely financial terms) have led to some unfortunate consequences we’d be better off without.
@Jay I wonder if this lack of care is a recent thing, or has it been with us a long time? I haven’t studied it, but I wonder if it’s to do with the decline of community and so we’ve lost connection with the people around us. Perhaps the virtual communities springing up will change the direction and start to bring more care into the world.
@Chris I guess many people are nervous about handling other people’s emotions, so it’s easier to have this unwritten rule in place to leave all that emotional stuff outside. As you say, it means leaving the joyful too.
@Daphne I truly believe that each business has a core purpose to make the world better in some particular way. It’s not so obvious … and if you ask most people what the purpose of their business is they will invariably answer ‘to make money’. I find this kind of tragic. Making money is surely one of the means, not one of the ends.
@Crafters Could be! Directing anger at the faceless, nameless ‘corporations’. I agree that venting anger can be important .. I just wonder if it might be more effective if it was directed at the actual people who have the power.
@Stephen Thanks Stephen!
@Lisis yes, fear is very basic and very powerful. I wish had a realistic answer to how to deal with it .. but I don’t.
I wouldn’t recommend it as a conscious decision, but a few years back I ran out of money for some months. No savings, no cash … nothing. I survived.
Looking back that was a turning point in my life as I faced this huge fear of not having money and saw that my belief that ‘I need money’ was false. I needed friends, food, somewhere to sleep out of the cold. Apart from those things, I needed little else. Since then I’m much less fearful of not having money and also more appreciative when I do have it.
You know, we really have considered this… the leap of faith angle. In fact, we are kind of toying with a “soft deadline” of July 15th as his quitting date… come what may. Perhaps we need to go through one of those phases like you had?
We’ll see… I may be publishing my blog from the (free) public library computers by the end of July!
Leaps of faith are great! Just make sure you have a support network around you. Family and friends can help with the soft landing if necessary!
Are you kidding me? I’m coming to crash on your couch!
You’re very welcome!!! Any time!
I agree many people are leaving their hearts at home. Separating job and home may be a way of escaping problems.
As far as business goes. Greed plays a significant part in the integrity of a business.
I detest managers and executives, who use intimidation on employees.
To use these tactics is to create stress which is not beneficial for productivity or for health. It isn’t necessary unless the employee isn’t doing his job.
Love the article-
Hi Ian,
Businesses aren’t only collections of people. They are relationships structured in a particular way. As you note fear is usually part of this structure.
For instance in Australia superannuation funds are subject to a ’single interest’ test – that is they are legally obliged to only care about money. They also have the legal status of individuals not collections of individuals.
If corporations were only collections of individuals then they would change when the individuals in them changed – actually they are quite stable.
I think corporations can be viewed as systems or a strange kind of organism.
I don’t think organisations need to be destructive. I think groups can be a support to us living a human life – but this requires a quite different structure to that of fear based corporations. After the learning organisation comes the healing organisation.
Thanks for a stimulating post on a hugely important topic.
Ian,
Great post and I agree with all of it!
I have worked in many businesses: large, small, and even my own. I also have an MBA.
The best businesses have a sense of mission to serve customers. They feel that they are providing a valuable service or product at a fair price to highly valued customers.
The worst businesses are the ones that think they need to maximize profits at all costs. They think any way to make a “quick dollar” is a good way.
You got it right. When it comes to business, most people think they should leave their hearts at home. That’s when the trouble starts, when we all walk around like robots with no souls and no other motive but profit.
@Bunny I guess that playground bullies grow up to be bullies in the workplace. I agree that intimidation has no place at work (or anywhere for that matter) … but unfortunately it still exists. For now.
@Evan Thanks for this Evan. I certainly agree that organisations are more than the sum of the individuals – especially the complexity of the interrelationships takes on some form of its own. Superannuation funds are a good example (IMO) of one of the layers of commerce that has arisen that obscure the heart of what business is all about. Even then, the single interest test is surely a way of measuring success against purpose .. rather than the purpose itself?
That organisations are stable does not match my own experiences.
I worked for 9 years for a well known consultancy/audit firm. I worked in 2 countries, had exposure to many different offices across Europe, plus went through 2 mergers. To the outside world the significant changes were a couple of name and brand changes but the work was substantially the same. However my experience of each office was very different – not in terms of process and systems (which were more or less standard) – - but in the unique combinations of relationships. Each office, and even divisions within each office, had a unique personality. And that changed very quickly so each office was different one year to the next.
I accept that this may not be representative of other businesses.
@Roger Thanks for the reminder that there are indeed some great businesses out there!
@I Take Off The Mask Actually I think the problem is that the ‘robots’ don’t think about their own motives much and follow the small minority who are driven by profit. Thanks for the visit and taking the time to comment.