I finally got some time to put together a response to my first post (here)! I’ve been thinking about it a lot, so here goes.
The last thing I wrote in that first post was a question: How do tech and other non-product-based companies become “responsible”? My buddy Steven Case gave an insightful response, saying that companies that make computer chips could use 3-D printers instead of throwing excess away. That is partially what I’m talking about, but not exactly.
I’m more concerned with companies that produce the intangible. It’s easy to see that clothing-producing sweatshops employ underage children, or that beef cattle farts are contributing to global warming (it’s actually mostly their burps, I just read, but that’s not as amusing!), but what about a design company or, say, Twitter?
I’ll give my thoughts, and feel free to comment on them or add your own:
Step One: The Office
This goes along with what Steven was saying: If you do make any kind of product, make sure it creates as little waste as possible, even if that waste is just some scraps from making a processor. But, I would also include any impact the office itself has in here. Things like controlling your thermostat, using recycled paper, etc.
The details of how to have a “sustainable office” have been written/talked about endlessly, so I won’t get into them, but I do believe that, while these impacts may seem small for each company, they can cause serious damage if neglected.
Step Two: The Work
This is the meat of the subject.
It involves something more complicated and perhaps a bit philosophical. It means not creating something I’ll call “Excellence Waste” (EW).
EW won’t destroy the Earth, but does waste time, at least, and at worst, it pollutes the business world. The very worst of it, in my opinion (and it’s beginning to sound melodramatic here), even goes so far as to degrade us as a species.
The traits that set us apart from the other animals cause both our triumph and our downfall. Our intellectual traits cause triumph, but we learned to use this intellect for diversion, deceit, and damned lies. In the social world, these make you an asshole. In the business world, they cause EW.
I’ll give a couple examples: Housing market hedge funds. Pushy, over-aggressive sales tactics. “African Prince” scam emails. All of these involve companies that don’t have a physical product, and, all of them involve deceit for the sake of profit. It’s this violation of moral code that characterizes EW, as opposed to the violation of environmental issues that causes traditional waste.
The reason I think of it as waste is an interesting one. Unlike trash, EW is almost instantly “recycled”, in that a correct moral decision can be made immediately afterwards. Physical trash, obviously, has to decompose for years before it can be used again. The similarity comes in that what is sacrificed–time, respect, integrity–is lost forever. It is all about opportunity cost. If a company spends all it’s time sending spam Viagra emails, they have no legacy. They have taken the easy way out and made a quick buck, but as soon as better spam filters are developed, they have nothing. Where they could have produced excellence, they instead produced waste.
Instead, empires should be built. Excellence should be the norm. Companies would be founded on moral integrity and they will use honesty and hard work as their core competencies, not fly-by-night strategies and band-aids when things go wrong. And it doesn’t have to involve egregious wrong-doing. Something as simple as half-assing a report because you know the customer won’t know the difference is waste. The smallest lie is huge. While it may cause a short-term loss in revenue, implementing these strategies will envelop the company in an air of honor and respect, which will win in the long run. Not only will clients want to work with you because of your honesty, that kind of transparency will be a beacon to which everyone with a heart will be drawn.
Before I get too preachy (maybe it’s too late?), I’ll stop there.
I’ve uncovered a lot of opinions in my “research” for this post, both my own and of my friends, and I’ve found there is a lot to be said here. Thanks to JD and Rachel for their opinions and support, and to Steven for in depth philosophical discussions that help me digest these thoughts (and unfortunately make me a little disappointed in our political/economic systems, but that is a different discussion). I look forward to hearing anyone else’s opinion on the subject–this seems to be something anyone can have an opinion about, whether you are a business person or not.
In the coming weeks, I’ll try to pull out individual aspects of this and discuss them in depth. Examples would be: Honesty in the business world and how I hope it becomes less rare. The value of talented employees and how they should be treated. Maybe a bit about what the future holds for the internet and internet marketing. Who knows.
Thanks for reading, it means a lot.
Rachel Thiel says
Nice post, Lee! I’d be interested to hear more about what you consider Excellence Waste. I would wonder if waste is necessarily built in to the quasi-capitalist system the business world operates in? For example, it seems to me that any time something new is tried or an innovation is made, there is potential for waste simply because the ideas won’t get funded into businesses. Or, if the person doing the innovating is not the entrepreneurial type. Or if the product (intellectual or physical) isn’t marketable. Would you consider these scenarios wasteful?
Lee says
Hm interesting points…yeah I’m still refining the definition of EW (still a working title too), but I think your points are slightly different. Those are definitely waste, but more from an I/O perspective. They are inherent in capitalism, but can be cleaned up with greater organizational efficiency.
EW is not as clear cut. It’s based on a personal level and is caused by individuals choosing profits or the easy way out over the correct long-term decision. I/O waste is inherent in business, EW is inherent in people. Probably shows up outside the biz world too..
Jesse says
Great read. I’ve never really thought of the concept of “Excellence Waste” before.
Lee says
What’s up Jesse! Glad to hear you liked it.
Bill C says
Good stuff Lee. Makes me think personally if I were ever to start a business or (even in the company I work for now) how many A or B decisions are there between my company going the way of Patagonia on one hand or Enron on the other. Probably not as many as you think…
Give me a second to tie this in – I was listening to a Tim Keller podcast this week and he was talking about the political polarization in our society today. He made the statement that the right doesn’t trust the government and the left doesn’t trust business. But what make up both the government and business? We do. His point was that basically all of the issues we have today come down to personal responsibility and I think that ties in perfectly with what you’re saying. We hide these larger entities but at some point someone decided to start that Hedge fund or Ponzi scheme, someone’s business plan was to send all that spam and someone decided that the easy dollar was more important than being responsible. While I want to think I’d make the right call it’s pretty challenging to imagine myself in that position.
Lee says
Thanks Bill! Thats a good question..I feel like it’s a mix of the rare, big decisions but also the day to day stuff. The big ones matter more but there are more of the smaller ones and they can add up.
Hm, yeah that ended up being one takeaway from the discussion here, that it comes down to individuals. I’ll admit that the post is very idealistic (you can’t ALWAYS make the perfect decision), but I’d like to think that businesses can be set up from the beginning to reward the correct decisions so that it’s advantageous for all parties to go that route. It seems like a difficult position in the current market, but hopefully that will change!