Business is boring.
No, really, it is.
Or, at least, the way we talk about it is.
It’s like looking at brochures to enjoy a holiday.
A flat visual facsimile of a multi-sensory immersive reality.
Peter Drucker’s said that “The purpose of a business is to create customers”.
At the time, it was thought to be insightful. Now, I just think it sounds so small.
Where’s the richness of human interaction, the unexpected, the serendipitous, the accidental, the inspired; the moments that bring surprise and energy to life?
Where’s the impact on society, the way that business is woven into the lives of the people and the community?
We simplify and reduce business in an attempt to understand it and to exercise control. In the process, we suck the life out of it.
It’s time to rethink how we think about business and embrace the messy, chaotic, unpredictable parts of it. The bits that truly make it interesting.
Drucker wasn’t wrong, it’s just limited view.
I believe the purpose of business should be the stewardship of the people in it and its ecosystem.
That’s an utterly fascinating thing to consider, that makes business part of life. Lively, even.