Objectives

Part A:

Businesses exists for many reasons, but many would argue that it’s primary objective is to make money.

👉 It turns “things” – products, services, kindness, generosity, goodwill – into money.

Part B:

While I acknowledge that as far as I know, no one has conclusively determined what the meaning of life is yet, you could argue that a very simplistic placeholder for why people exist is to multiply.

👉 We turn ourselves into more of ourselves.

Part C:

To make more of ourselves, we don’t just trample through life, pushing people out of the way to get to a mate on the other side of the room, just so we can go make people.

As well as that, we also build relationships with other people; learn social behaviour; earn and give respect; offer compassion; admit fault; ask for help; lend a hand; save water; stand in line; wave to people on boats; and all the other weird and wonderful stuff that makes us human.

So why would a businesses get to trample through life, pushing people out of the way to get to a thing-maker on the other side of the room, just so it can go make money?

Here’s my view:

A business is not a person, but it can exist in a similar way to people.

It doesn’t need to build a relationship and be friends with everybody it encounters, nor should it pretend that it wants to – but it can respect them.

It can learn social behaviour.

It can even offer compassion.

It can (and must) admit fault.

And it can ask for help.

Making money is not the only objective.