Gavin Watson
Chair
Why do we need a new way of doing business?
Because the current management and business practices that most companies are practicing today are at least 100years old. In that time two things have happened. First the world moves much more quickly now and secondly we have learned a lot about the best environments for human engagement and productivity, we now know how to create an engaging and quickly responding workplace. Several companies have pioneered and achieved this. It results in a better environment for people and a more prosperous company so why would we not do it?
Give us an idea of how have you helped make the world a better place?
I read a lot of different books and learned about practices other more progressive companies. I also read a lot in the field of positive psychology and other recent scientific studies. It became obvious to me that we should be managing and structuring our companies not on current “best business practices” which are not science based, but we should be structuring our companies and managing our work places based on the current best research. Using the information and the examples of other companies I tried out several new approaches and they work very well. We created an environment rich in autonomy and information flow where people can flourish and the company performance is much better.
What does Conscious capitalism mean to you?
It means being conscious, self-aware, a certain stage of human development and maturity. Many companies don’t stop to think about anything past the strategic plan, coming within budget, and making money. They are acting like a single cell organism that is not self-conscious. A single cell organism that is consuming all of the food in the petri dish as fast as possible.
A conscious company is self-aware. A conscious company knows why it exists and knows that it exists for something much more than making money. A conscious company has a purpose and regards making money as just something it must do so that it can continue to exist and continue to pursue it’s purpose. A conscious company also knows that it has a responsibility to all of its stakeholders. First of all the employees for without them nothing else matters, and without them the purpose cannot be pursued. Then the other stakeholders; the suppliers, customers, the community, the environment and finally the shareholders who get what is left over of the money. In a conscious company there will be plenty of financial reward because the conscious company will outperform it’s non conscious competition. The shareholders true reward however is the knowledge of the difference their assets are making in the world. Because the shareholders of a conscious company are of course themselves conscious.
