Betterness: Economics for Humans (Kindle Single)

“Where and when do we do it?” That is the fourth and final foundational question every organization must ask. Objectives and imperatives both answer it, but in very different ways. Objectives are specific: they concern the present’s circumstances. Imperatives transcend specific circumstances and apply everywhere. Objectives are transient: they are

But eudaimonia wasn’t an easy, comfortable, materially rich life, but one that was authentically, meaningfully rich: rich with relationships, ideas, emotion, health and vigor, recognition and contribution, passion and fulfillment, and great accomplishment and enduring achievement, exactly what “business,” “output,” and “product” seem so achingly de

The world today is being swept by tectonic shifts in both supply and demand. On the demand side, what constituencies want is radical—and rapid—change. On the supply side, the productive possibilities and the untapped paths for real wealth creation available to people, entrepreneurs, and organizations are undergoing equally transformative change.

I’d suggest that today we stand on the vertiginous cusp of an equally dizzying transformation in our understanding of prosperity’s place in the human universe: that an economy isn’t an end in itself, but that it’s a means to the end of a good life. That life isn’t a means to the end of wealth, but that wealth is a means to the end of a good

Business, today, is fighting back hard against the inexorable rise of constraints—demanded by constituents across the globe—largely by expending hard-earned cash on influencing the political process.

When an organization can say, “We exist to create this specific kind of marginal wealth because it has these consequences for people, communities, society, the natural world, or future generations,” it has crafted an ambition.

What kinds of higher-order returns do you want the world to have tomorrow that it doesn’t have today? Which kinds of precise benefits do you want to return? The first step in going out of business and into betterness is making that choice. Second, after answering which kind of wealth you should create, the next step is to understand impact: whose w

People, communities, society, governments, investors, and employees alike are all starting to say: “I’m not interested in your business. Business is obsolete. The real question is: can your company do anything more than just ‘business’? What can you do to inspire, amaze, delight, surprise, elevate, enlighten, and better me, and the community around

at its best, an economy is one that’s not visibly, wheezingly unhealthy.