Modern capitalist organisations are far too myopic in their view of success, only measuring achievement with a very narrow set of metrics – all financial. To truly measure the actual success of an organisation we should be looking far more widely at the impact it has on the world around it. We should be looking at a triple bottom line – financial growth, human growth, environmental growth.
What if, instead of measuring the success of an organisation purely on financial growth, we measured how much the people that work there grew and developed as people, along with the impact the company had on the environment?
What if, in order to be considered a success all three areas had to grow equally – financial, human and environmental?
What if, in order to considered successful an organisation had to have ZERO negative impact anywhere in their supply chain?
What if, only companies that demonstrated this triple bottom line growth attracted the big investment and were seen as valuable by the markets?
What if, governments chose to tax organisations based on the difference between their financial growth and their growth (or lack thereof) in human and environmental capital?
What if, profit was merely about sustainability and not about amassing personal wealth?
What if, every single business solved a real problem in a sustainable, accessible way for the benefit of society and the community?
How would that change the world? Comment below.
You can find out how the answers to some of these questions play out in ‘Completing Capitalism’ by Bruno Roche and Jay Jakub, or get started with your own organisation, starting with culture!