Dear reader,
I was thinking last week that many people have noble aspirations but don't know it.
I constructed a questionairre that can give you an idea of where you stand.
If you answer 3 out of twelve yes, you are a noble aspirant:
1. My company is "green","sustainable" or socially conscious.
2. I know that being good is not enough; we have to be profitable/viable.
3. I am committed to a higher purpose that is at the heart of my my business.
4. Innovation is critical to my business or service.
5. I want my team to aspire to something of value to the world.
6. I put my time and money into a business that has a higher purpose.
7. It is critical to my company to collaborate well.
8. My conscious dictates that I work in a socially conscious business.
9. I believe strongly that a business can be good and profitable.
10. I want my gifts and talents to be in service of a higher purpose.
11. My investors expect us to make a profit; treat all stakeholders collaboratively and have a global consciousness.
12. I am committed to making my noble aspiration a reality.
I invite you to write or call me to continue this conversation.
I would love to help you execute your vision.
Elad
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2 comments:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights..."
The most interesting thing to me about these profound words of our brilliant founding father - other than that they place the founding of our country not on Christianity or ANY religion but the more basic "self-evidential truth" - the interesting thing is that these rights have usually been interpreted to include "life, liberty, and the pursuit of property."
Nothing wrong with that. Even Jesus said that he had come that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, and he poured the wine to show how.
But profit and PROPERTY exclusively?
Do not 'we the people' have the right to assert, if it be the common weal, that, say, COMMUNITY, as only one example, is the happiness good which we have the right to pursue. It has been shown that societies where family and community ties are the strongest have better health, happiness, and longer lives.
So, yes, my noble company will be profitable, but please may it also be a community and part of communities, placing its values appropriately.
For we are One.
Some notes on the profit motive:
Perhaps the "greed gene" is recessive in some people?
I was looking for a game to play on my new laptop with my nine-year-old granddaughter (the other one who owns my heart) the other day. We found "Farm Frenzy."
It's simple enough: buy a goose for 100, a lamb for 1000, if you have enough, pay for water from the well and sprinkle, collect the eggs and wool, and when the bin is full, drive the tractor to town and cash out.
A dog and a cat each cost 2500. The dog chases the bear away (he scares the geese - the only negative thing in the game), and the cat collects crops for you so you only need to tend to irrigation and driving to town.
THIS SEEMED LIKE A PERFECT TIME to explain to Melissa Ryan Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad)'s concept of an "asset" as being anything that puts money in your pocket and a "liability" as anything that takes money out of your pocket. (Kiyosaki has been in many lively discussions about whether one's own home is an asset or a liability).
Back to the game, when Melissa Ryan had over 10,000, the last shadowed object turned out to be a cow. I advised waiting until she had enough over to be sure she could pay for water. Well, after she bought the cow, the money came pouring (excuse the pun) in. Very soon now there was enough for a second cow, and a third.
More and more for it's own sake, though, did not seem that interesting to Melissa Ryan. She had been selling livestock from time to time, even though I cautioned her that she only got half price for them. That didn't deter her. She is quite self-sufficient in making her own decisions.
She asked about selling the cat or dog. It turned out that in the game, as in life, once you acquire a cat or dog they're yours forever.
(Besides, who would want to sell a cat that actually DOES something useful?) She did sell the cows.
Melissa Ryan ended up designing a little farmyard plot with one goose, one lamb, one cat, and one dog. That seemed to please her. Oh, and there was that huge number in the corner representing something or other.
So, as I say, I like to take the oppotunity from time to time to explain to my granddaughter ways of looking at things that I'd like her to grasp.... ?!?!
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