💼 TREE 722: Business is not a thing

Some people argue they’re right because, ‘The science is settled.’ This is a fundamental mistake. Science is not a thing that can be settled like a baby at bedtime. Because science is not a thing at all. Science is a process for understanding the world through testing. When people treat science itself as a thing, the results go squiffy and its usefulness goes down the toilet.

In the same way, business is not a thing. Business is a process that enables people who create something of value to distribute that thing and get paid for the value they create.

Unfortunately for us all, business itself is almost universally thought of as an actual thing. C-suite people, VPs and managers can easily move from one industry to another, not because they are experts in multiple industries, but because they are experts in business. Right now a quarter of a million people are working to get a masters degree in business. They aren’t learning how to create anything of value. They are learning how to make money off the value other people create. We accept this because we collectively believe the fiction that business is a thing rather than a process.

The result is that business no longer serves the people who create things of value. Instead, creators serve business. Now the purpose of the value they create is now to generate profits. We’re so convinced that business is a thing that we have figured out how to make profits (for a while, at least) without creating anything of value. I’m thinking of things like:

• banks selling bundles of subprime mortgages to each other

• manufacturers of sweet fizzy water

• the cat litter scoop from Sainsbury’s that broke the first time I used it.

I drew this on a napkin during a call with Skyler. Not sure what the product is yet, but I’m sure it’ll be a big seller.

Tomorrow, some thoughts on what to do about business.

Grow slowly
Jeff

P.S. Walt Disney said, ‘We don't make movies to make money. We make money to make more movies.’ Looking at Disney as a whole today, it doesn’t feel so true anymore.