"It's so obvious"

I gave a talk to a fashion industry audience recently.  I was explaining my research and work around authentic business and why authentic business is simply a better way to do business.

One of the people in the audience came to me afterwards and said “it is so obvious, and yet so few businesses do it.”

EXACTLY! and this is my mission.

Many of us have been so blinded by the pursuit of money as an end in itself that we forgot what we were doing it all for.

It is as if we got confused somewhere along the line, and believed for a time that business was somehow separate from being human.  

Not only that, when we remember that business is also a human activity, the business is actually more successful, more profitable and more fulfilling.

Let me summarise quickly:

Authentic businesses generate profit through the pursuit of a profound and positive purpose. (unlike regular businesses which simply seek to redistribute wealth from the population and environment to a few senior executives and shareholders).

Because the purpose is something the people in the business believe in passionately they are more motivated, caring and committed to their work than people in regular businesses.  

Because people in regular businesses are working exclusively to make someone else rich, it is much more difficult/expensive to motivate them.

Not only that but because there is a purpose beyond profit staff, customers and suppliers who feel aligned with the purpose can also align with the business and support it.  

Whereas in regular businesses, the business is competing with everyone, including their own staff and customers, for profit.

It is really quite simple. 

Virtually all people have, at their core, a positive sense of purpose.  We all want to make the world a better place, to make our lives and those of others around us better.  If we fail to do this, it is because we are confused and frightened, not because we are bad or uncaring (except for the few genuine psychopaths).  

Most businesses are made up of people.  Therefore - if we have the courage to uncover their personal purpose, most businesses can also be authentic.

My mission is for all businesses to be authentic.  I believe it will make the world a better place.  If you can work out that it is a better way to do business, a better way to live and better for the world - why wouldn’t you?  It’s obvious.

If you need some further persuasion take a look at Ray Anderson speaking at TED this year.  (Please bear in mind that sustainability happens to be the purpose at Interface Carpets -  not every business purpose is even related to sustainability). Ray Anderson is the Founder and Chairman of Interface Carpets - the largest commercial carpet tile business in the world.  The company is hugely successful, public quoted, has a  petrochemical based product AND is authentic.

If they can do it, so can anyone.