You’ve decided to take part in some nustso challenge and it’s not easy. Someone you don’t know draws alongside you and more often than not you demonstrate support for one another: a friendly word, a smile, etc. Two strangers want each other to do as well as they can. Even top marathon runners – people who are going for a win – are known to help newbies… during a race! How do we cultivate this attitude amongst the business community?
The majority of businesses see a finite (or even shrinking) market and treat it as a zero sum game, stealing from one another. This approach leads to an decreasing number of competitors. Dominant players game the landscape, block new entrants, and lobby the rule makers to skew things in their favour.
We can tell the good businesses apart because they don’t cannibalise one another, instead they provide something new, or for someone new. We can tell the great people apart because they support one another, always trying to improve, to grow, to serve.
I guess I’m looking for the business equivalent of a grand unified theory; one which brings capitalism, socialism, government and private enterprise together in a way that stabilises markets, closes the gap between rich and poor, looks after an ageing population, and provides a sense of self-determination and purpose in an era of increasing automation.
Easy peasy then; I’ll get right on that. But until I do, I will probably go on a few more nutso challenges so that I am reminded of how business might be.
