Spike Lee made a movie about it.
Fareed Zakaria writes about it the June 22, 2008 issue of Newsweek (“Greed is Good“). One of the points he makes is that the reason the cycles of boom and decline are coming faster is because people are no longer doing the right thing. In the last twenty years it has been obvious that people are taking advantage of short term gains and suffering long term catastrophes. It is becoming the motto of our generation.
Read Zakaria’s articles. He does not offer a solution but identifies the problem: the lack of thinking about what is right. He points out that people are not breaking the law, but rather, running inside the law, and doing everything the law allows. Ethics and morality (which have always been difficult to enforce in a free society) are stretched beyond breaking.
Unfortunately, part of the problem is that our metrics are all wrong. Instead of being measured by long term growth and stability, we are only measured by our stock value every quarter.
How do we solve this? We set metrics that focus on continuous growth, long term stability, and success for the stakeholders. Zakaria suggests we simply do a gut check: if it does not feel right, we should not be doing it…never mind that everyone else is doing it. Its not about being better than them right now, it is not even about being better than the other guy ever. It is simply about growing and delivering what people really want: happiness.
So, when you set the metrics in your company, think about what those metrics really mean. If it means that your company might not be around in three years, then maybe you have the wrong metrics. Ultimately, what do you want to achieve with your company? If you only care about the here and now, then I hope when you are looking for a job in a few years you can think of some happy memories. If you want to achieve long term growth and success, then you need set the metrics and the priorities now. Talk about what they mean with your team, and continue to talk about them to get everyone on the same page.
As Zakaria writes, Capitalism is the greatest invention and has lifted many countries of the world out of poverty. As part of capitalism, we talk about greed and some aspects of greed are good…but only to a point. Past that point and greed becomes destructive and ruins everything that capitalism achieves. Do not get past that point, always remember to “Do the right thing.”
