Somethink Completely Different

On TEDx Rotterdam 2010 I was privileged to listen to a beautiful story of the Dutch philosopher Bas

Haring. He told the following story…

When he was in elementary school the teacher gave the

class the challenge to make as many as possible words out of

the word "Holiday House"Bas went diligently to work and soon he

had many words.

Holiday…House…Day…

Etc

WHEN IT WAS TIME TO STOP WITH THE CHALLENGE HE EVEN APPEARED TO HAVE THE MOST WORDS. BUT BEFORE THE TEACHER STARTED TO JUDGE

SHE TOLD THE CLASS THE FOLLOWING:

ONLY THE UNIQUE WORDS THAT NOBODY ELSE HAS COUNT.

Despite Bas had the most words, he was not able to find an unique word.

The boy that had won only had one word. One unique word. He invested all his energy into finding an unique word instead of finding as many as possible. Ironic isn't it?

But it also very inspiring!

The main objective of most companies is to realize profit maximization. They constantly are trying to win a race, they have a limited focus and what

they eventually do is far from unique.

They mostly use existing resources and they try to standardize

as many processes as possible.

They try to motivate people to produce more with financial rewards. The result is often a short-term profit maximization.

Not bad at all right?

Unfortunately this is not a good foundation for the

long-term. It ensures that you always need to

continue to participate in the race to continue to

survive.

Wouldn't it be nice if you where the one that everybody had the adapt to?

That you make unique products that everybody tries to copy? That you have an organization where people not really care about financial rewards that much. A organization in which they are motivated

by challenges, by pursuing goals that are larger than themselves and the urge to be better at something that matters?

Sounds great right?

Charles Darwin

‘In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment.’

According to Darwin leaders that change things are the ones that survive. They are the ones with a meaningful purpose. The are motived from the inside to maximize value for people rather than maximize

profit. These organizations love to challenge the status quo and therefore they design better products. This is their most important strength and this is why they distinguish themselves from the rest of the market.

So they are the ones that successfully design better products by challenging the status quo. But they don't stop their, they

challenge the status quo in everything they do, in every process and aspect of the organization.

They have innovative business models that can change entire industries. Skype, Google, Wikipedia or Twitter, they are all good examples of it. They treat people as actors and not as pawns.

And while some innovations are easy to

copy, they will always be first with these innovations.

They are leaders that others need to follow to survive. And don't forget, the ability to create and the courage to challenge the

status quo is not simply something that others can copy. There are no algorithms for it and

you can't buy it.

In times when so much is changing, money is not the most powerful and valuable

thing. Winners have the capacity to create and therefore the ability to innovate.

The desire to create and design new solutions and not just aspire to maximize profits. Profit is merely a consequence of value maximization for people. A way

to be able to keep on maximizing value throughout time.

Products that are made with the objective of profit maximization for

people are by definition average because they are made for the masses.

There is nothing in which they excel. At the other hand, products that are made with the objective of value maximization for people stand

out. They are made for specific target groups and are therefore more useful for these people. They love to share their enthusiasm about

these products and therefore the products become the promotion. An important task of a marketer is to facilitate the wish of people to

share their enthusiasm with others. This can be done very effective and easily these days with for example Social Media.

So do you want to be a person that comes up with the most words, or do you want to be the one with

one unique word?

Albert Einstein

‘Imagination is more

important than

knowledge.’

The idea of ‘Human Centered Business' is that if you focus on maximizing value for people and see profit as a result of this, you can create success beyond the status quo and value beyond calculation. Because of the necessary

long-term focus you will be able to build an organization with a incredibly strong foundation. These organizations

will even have the potential to contribute to more stable economies.

Stay inspired and follow the latest great ideas, innovative

business models, videos, presentations and challenges

of the status quo ...

www.humancenteredbusiness.com

www.humancenteredbusiness.com