{"id":1333,"date":"2009-07-23T13:31:05","date_gmt":"2009-07-23T13:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localenterprise.wordpress.com\/?p=875"},"modified":"2009-07-23T13:31:05","modified_gmt":"2009-07-23T13:31:05","slug":"enterprise-at-its-best-decoupled-from-self-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2009\/07\/23\/enterprise-at-its-best-decoupled-from-self-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"Enterprise at its best\u2014decoupled from self-interest?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Julia Middleton<\/a> has written an interesting piece for the Institute of Directors<\/a>.\u00a0 She argues that we need to decouple ‘enterprise’ from ‘self interest’.<\/p>\n

Julia contrasts the motivations of the bankers\u00a0 – ‘primarily financial<\/em>‘ with the interests of Narayana Murthy, Chair of Indian IT giants Infosys – primarily about a ‘wider social gain<\/em>‘.<\/p>\n

Julia suggests that ‘Bankers’ are primarily motivated by self interest, while Murthy was motivated by a wider social need that ‘transcended’ personal gain.<\/p>\n

“Many people wondered why I wanted to take such a risk, to create, at that time in India, a company that would set a new standard of ethics in business. I had a good job, I was married, I had a small child, and I was brought up middle class. It was no easy decision. But all of us are driven by factors that transcend the hygiene factors: money and position. We all want to do something noble and make a difference to the context.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Julia argues that this view of enterprise is “glorious and grand and is delivered the world over by people motivated not only by personal gain but also by the needs of their communities and countries. It is enterprise at its best\u2014enterprise decoupled from self-interest.”<\/p>\n

But Murthy was acting EXACTLY in his own self interest.\u00a0 He was driven by factors that ‘transcended the hygiene factors’.\u00a0 He was driven to do something ‘noble’.\u00a0 He believes that everyone else is as well.\u00a0 Presumably even bankers?<\/p>\n

In my book, both enterprise and entrepreneurship are all <\/span>about ‘self interest’ and ‘power’.\u00a0 About taking decisions and actions that work for a self interest that has been properly understood and <\/strong>negotiated<\/strong>.\u00a0 Not simply in terms of profit, but in terms of sustainability, and wider societal impact.\u00a0 Some bankers seem to have managed this ‘proper negotiation\u00a0 of self interest’ more effectively than others.\u00a0 As indeed have some IT companies.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Julia is arguing that good enterprise is ‘selfless’ rather than ‘selfish’?<\/p>\n

I would argue that both of these are equally dangerous foundations on which to build an enterprise.\u00a0 The middle ground of self interest, where my <\/strong><\/em>hopes and aspirations (to get rich, to save the whale, to reverse climate change, to do something noble) are properly and sustainably negotiated with the interests of others provides the only strong foundation for a sustainable, progressive and effective relationship.<\/p>\n

I cannot be always giving (selfless) nor can I be always taking (selfish).<\/p>\n

The point is not that we should decouple enterprise from self interest – but that we should work with people to ensure that their self interest is both rightly understood and properly negotiated with both the present and the future.\u00a0 That personal perceptions of self interest remain dynamic and relevant (witness Bill Gates journey from techy to philanthropist – all the time pursuing his self interest).<\/p>\n

Instead of urging people to put self interest to one side we should be urging them to put it ‘up front and centre stage’.\u00a0 We should then help them to explore how their self interest ‘works’ with the self interests of others.\u00a0 To understand how self interest is served by helping others.\u00a0 How association, co-operation and mutuality work in pursuit of individual and collective self interests.<\/p>\n

Because it is the mutual negotiation of self interests, and access to the power to pursue interests effectively, that provide the basic building blocks of civic society.<\/p>\n