Much of what we encounter in life is outside our control. In sum, I evaluate business decisions through the lens of how we can further differentiate the product and strengthen the relationship. I’ve spent much of the week working through an articulation of why, but Roxane Gay took the words out of my mouth in her superlative New York Times opinion piece … if my words were 10 times more eloquent and powerful.
This week, I flexed my capitalist muscle, and pulled the Prof G Pod from Spotify. Your anger at a person or party is a weight, and becomes an ailment - even debilitating - the longer you hold on to it. If I feel I’ve been treated poorly I don’t work with them again. In 30-plus years in business I’ve never sued or been sued by anybody. Capitalists ask how can we be great partners, they execute, and they ensure they’ll benefit from the value created.Ĭompetition and conflict is best hammered out in the marketplace.
Successful capitalists create allies along the way. I used to see most business relationships as win/lose. There’s a cartoon of a billionaire Monty Burns type who lights cigars with $100 bills and pours mercury into the river. But that’s another post.Ĭapitalism’s superpower is mutual prosperity brought about by self-interest. When we ignore the externalities of capitalism - hoarding, failing to invest in the middle class, lacking compassion for those left behind - we end up with a G-7 nation that has the greatest inequality, polarization, and Covid mortality. It’s important to note that without robust oversight, the wealthy and powerful will overrun the system. Competitive markets, the key to capitalism, allow me to opt for In-N-Out instead. I choose not to eat at Chick-fil-A, as I don’t care for ownership’s social commentary.
The full-body-contact violence of competition creates prosperity that gives people and their families economic security, options, and the ability to help others. Growth and margin create stakeholder value via cash flow, enterprise value, and (I hope) meaningful work. I’ve spent the majority of my waking hours trying to choreograph human capital and technology to create a differentiated product or service so I can charge more than the cost of the inputs. So, here’s my Algebra of Decisions: CSAM. Note: I’m not advocating for any particular set of values, only urging you to identify and frame yours. Ultimately, tested by time and decisions made, these values become your filters - an algebra of decisions, if you will. You have to trust these values more than you care about the outcome of any one decision, or you’ll override them whenever the going gets tough. The hardest part is developing your framework, as it requires identifying a set of values and/or ideologies you believe in. A framework doesn’t guarantee that every decision will be right, but it will help you speed decisions, build trust with others as they know what to expect, make your actions count, and ease the pain of bad decisions as they are authentic. Every action - and every inaction - is the product of a decision. It’s easy for a person to be near-meaningless and, if you’re unlucky or choose to stay on the sidelines, to not touch anybody else’s life or happiness. My fifth-grade teacher used to say, all the damn time, “You Matter!” No, not necessarily. I just read the last sentence and feel like maybe I’m trying too hard. It’s the key to navigating by starlight and developing greater situational awareness. I’ve learned I need a framework - a set of values that help define how I want to live my life and serve as a lens through which to filter my thinking. Your instincts are a decent guide to survival and propagation, but a complex world offers exponentially more challenges and rewards. Ideally, it’s better to make the right decision in the first place. A step back from the wrong path is a step in the right direction. Be open to evolving, changing your mind when presented with new data or compelling views and insights. Your decisions are a guide and an action plan, not a suicide pact. People often mistake this for being principled … it’s not. But there’s being decisive, and then there’s being allergic to course correction. Granted, there’s a benefit to making decisions quickly, as speed can compensate, somewhat, for misdirection. I was more focused on proving my decisions were right … because I’m awesome … than on making the best ones. When I was younger, I embraced (subconsciously, as I was sleepwalking through life) the notion that you can make any decision the right one through leadership and persuasion. It’s been draining, and made me think about decision-making. I walked away, for now, from a long-time business partner and watched another be fired. This has been a week of difficult decisions.
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