Big Media think they’re going down the tubes because of “market changes” or whatever.
It never occurs to them that maybe, just maybe their own bad manners could have something to do with their own demise.Hugh McLeod, The Hughtrain
Big Media, Big Medicine, Big Religion, Big Business of all kinds is in Big Trouble with customers (and frequently other stakeholders as well). What’s behind that trouble is questions about whether they are creating as much value as they consume.
And that of course is not only a problem for large entities but for individuals as well, whether they are big-ticket CEOs or hourly workers.
What if we put the brakes on measuring value by current standards and returned to ancient and honored benchmarks of quality, sustainability, wholeness and community? What if we honored the significance of every stakeholder every day? What if we operated on the principle — famously held by J.C. Penney a century ago — of treating stakeholders the way we would have them treat us? If we did that, would anything change? We’re betting a lot would change — and we see evidence of that in businesses sprinkled here and there around the world. Thinking about value this way requires empathy . . . presence . . . immersion in the experience of others . . . and dare we introduce the theological notion of incarnation? Whatever our jobs, the better we understand all that, the better we’ll get at creating value.
