We can be the generation that makes business better. I really believe this. But we need a revolution. Now, don't worry, this revolution isn't about guns or anything like that, but we need a conscious conceptual revolution. A revolution about ideas. We need nothing less than a different way, or different ways to think about business we need a way to think about business that enables us to be at our best. The overall argument here is that the standard story about business that's, that's dominant in cultures across the world, frankly isn't very useful anymore. In the world of the 21st century. There are at least four flaws in this current approach. I'm going to talk about these flaws in the next video. I'm going to suggest we go in a different direction because the good news is there are lots of alternatives to this standard story that are emerging. But first, I need to do two things. I need to tell you what a narrative or standard story is, and I need to tell you what I think the standard story about business is. First, what is this idea of a standard story and underlining narrative, a dominant narrative. And why are they important. I want you to think, just a minute, not about business. I want you to think about sort of the old narrative if you like about the role of women in US society, I'll use US society but it's a standard story in lots of societies around the world. And you know how that story used to go, it used to go well, you know, women should stay at home they're emotional creatures, their role is really in the home, and child raising, etcetera. And for instance they shouldn't be allowed to vote, they shouldn't be allowed to operate in the public sphere. they can't be trusted to make important decisions, like, the ones that have to be made in politics. And you know what happened. People began to question this narrative and gradually over time the narrative changed. It reached maybe a tipping point in the, in the 20th century in the U.S. when women began to vote and perhaps another with the technology of birth control in the 1950s. The 20th century in many ways in the U.S. was partially a century of the liberation, growth and development of women. The dominant story, the underlying narrative changed and with it what we are able to accomplish changed and got better. Now changing the dominant narrative takes time. It takes repetition, and it takes the willingness on the part of many people to continuously challenge the old narrative to find a better way. So, what about the old narrative of business? What's the standard story that we need to change? Well, there are six key assumptions. In this old narrative of business. The first one is that business is primarily about economics. It's about making money and profits and it's not about being connected to other institutions in society. Business sort of stands alone in, in, in something like free market land,uh, wherever that ha ha that happens to be. And when you think about business, you think about money and profits. The second key assumption, and the old narrative, is that. The only constituency that really matters are shareholders. Why? Because they're the ones who care about money and profits. We don't care so much about others who are affected by business. It's shareholders that matter. The third assumption is that we live in a world of mostly un, of limitless, unlimited physical resources. So we don't need to pay much attention to our impact on the environment. You can see this as this view of business as exploiting what natural resources are there. The fourth assumption is that capitalism works because people are kind of completely self-interested, only in it for themselves. If you want them to act for others, for instance if you want managers to act for shareholders they've gotta have the proper incentive and these incentives around money and pay and profits are what drive them to act. The fifth assumption and this is one that I find particularly problematic is that given the opportunity business people will cheat, cut corners, lie, cheat and steal more than the average. This assumption about who we are as moral beings, when we put on a suit or go to business, it's almost assumed that we're non-moral, we're amoral. We don't care about the effects of our action on others. And finally, the sixth assumption is that business works because people are basically competitive, or greedy, and then somehow just by an invisible hand, the greatest good emerges. And usually one passage is quoted out of Adam Smith and we forget much of Adam Smith. Read the papers, listen to the news, you'll here this story. One of the things I'd like you to think about is to see if you can find examples of these assumptions in your daily life. On the news, in the newspaper, on T.V whatever you read in conversations with your friends. I'd like you to talk about on the discussion forums the following question. What do you see as wrong with this standard story? With these six assumptions? What's right with it? What changes in business have you seen from your point of view? Wherever you are in the world. [BLANK_AUDIO] .
