When we bring our message to executives about a work revolution, we are reinforcing the message that profit is no longer a good enough reason to be in business.
This is flat-out terrifying for many company leaders, because their entire career they’ve been taught that “maximizing shareholder value” is the entire reason business exists. You probably had to unlearn this, too.
So, when we bring in this idea that profit is no longer enough (and, moreover, that it’s quite possibly the dumbest idea in the world), we are upsetting a pretty enormous apple cart.
If we dig a little deeper, the truth is that we’re forcing them to answer the question:
“If I don’t work for profit, why do I exist?”
Talk about disruptive.
The revolution will continue, but clearly this is a big and intimately personal question. We must be firm, but sensitive, to what we’re asking people to address within themselves.
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Special thanks to my friend Kibibi Springs for the great discussion around this topic yesterday!
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