Once upon a time, in an economy far far away, the measure of a company was its balance sheet alone.
While a company must be profitable in order to stay in business, focus today is shifting to a more broad collection of measures, many of which have nothing to do with the bottom line. Organizations focused on achieving long term success are adept at firmly establishing their core values, attracting and retaining talented individuals and teams who embody these values, and communicating with customers authentically and transparently.
“As individuals and companies, everything that we say and do is a symbol of who we are. And it is only when we communicate our beliefs authentically that we can attract others to our cause, and form the bonds that will empower us to achieve truly great things.”
In the more ephemeral software realm, it can be hard for a customer to differentiate between a software platform from Initech Corporation or a similar product from Hooli. There was a time when companies could remain competitive on simply the number of features offered and the price, but the relevance of those two factors alone is waning, especially as the sales price of millions of pieces of software and apps approaches zero.
In software, a bullet-proof strategy is to have an ecosystem built around an ethos. While there is more to it than the field of dreams mantra “If you build it, they will come,” with other things equal, a clearly communicated “why” will separate the passionate innovators from the rest.
Companies and organizations are a powerful force in the world, and are able to organize and operate based on the ecosystem around them. There are limitless opportunities out there for us humans, as stewards of this planet, to make it a better place. Sir Richard Branson sums this up well.
“…imagine all the good that can be done when all companies place emphasis on purpose. Many customers want to buy from businesses that share similar values to their own, so more and more consumers are aligning themselves to impactful companies that sell social or environmentally-conscious products and services.”
I encourage each of you to get out there and build successful organizations or work to effect positive change in the organizations you are a part of.
//Chris