Why is Always the Most Important Question to Ask. But you may also want to find out Who, When, Where, What and of course… How?
Yesterday I touched on the philosophy, principles and purpose of Context, the new(ish) brand which I’ve been tinkering with since 2018. Before expanding the army, I want to ensure I properly define what I’d like the initiative to capture as its essence.
My nature and nurture will create a natural centre of gravity rooted in what I referred to as ethical capitalism (aka conscious capitalism) in the Fox and the Henhouse documentary, consisting more of:
- Having a purpose: Here to Serve;
- prioritizing the right stakeholders: employees, clients above shareholders;
- a caring and compassionate leadership style;
- Focus on culture.
- I would add something about self-sustainability, being independent and not beholden to needless outside stakeholders. This point is something I am working on and will update on #AnotherArticle.
WHO?
Now granted, when doing so, I will likely be covering people from the following sectors:
This is my universe, my arena. These are the people I have built the industry with, or read about doing so. The people I brainstorm with, laugh, debate, discuss and sometimes disagree. Once in a blue moon it spills over into the legal forum, though ideally you avoid that. Not too dissimilar to when a pair of hockey players drop the gloves.
HOW?
To me, writing is one part educational and one part therapeutic. As such, while I do personally enjoy reading and writing about market share and financial metrics – which I’ve been known to do from time to time – what I hope sets the Context series of brands across written text, audio and video is the influence of liberal arts, specifically social sciences, arts, and humanities. That is as much an influence on me as business that I suppose explains why I have decided to centrally archive my writings and pontifications for the heightened interest in conscious capitalism is essentially how I have managed my business and relationships.
Like, come on: no one has cared about how people feel and think, only what they produce, and now we wonder why the system is not sustainable?
WHAT?
Years ago, an investment group looking to invest in us asked me if I was open to coaching. I replied “the best teachers are perpetual students.” They never raised the matter again. The real question isn’t what you’re being asked. The challenge you are facing isn’t trying to teach you the lesson you think you are learning.
As such, I look at the sins and virtues when explaining business success and failure. But since success is fluid, relative and subjective, then I focus more on things like:
The philosophy of Yin Yang, or Balance.
How to navigate individuals and manage Gestalt psychology to maximize the Sum of the Parts.
Tapping into Plato’s principle of specialization and identifying people’s comparative advantage to create the best version of themselves.
And last but certainly not least, Freud’s Id Ego Superego division of mind theory, which balance ego with essence, essentially. These were all themes in my first book Course To Success which I wrote and published in 2002.
2002. So yes, I won’t lie, having forewent easy money and avoided most unsavory aspects of entrepreneurship/startup culture in the new media and tech sectors, I sometimes roll my eyes when others who ruled with no conscience now find morality. Better late than never, but this is also to avoid that current and future employees truly understand what it takes to achieve Success =
Vision + Ambition + Execution + Persistence + Luck + Timing + Focus + Resiliency.
Context’s Tenets include:
- Trustworthiness
- Truthfulness
- Transparency
- Teamwork
- Transactional
- Tone
- Tenacity
- Temperance
- Trauma
- Therapeutic
- Teaching
- Time
WHY?
But business, and entrepreneurship, is a means to and end. Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t. As such, why the yin-yang philosophy is so central to my worldview is because we’re ultimately seeking Work / Life / Play satisfaction – which paradoxically is rarely in equilibrium, or balance.
So those are personal objectives. What about professionally? Eventually, your approach and worldview changes and you want to really allocate your energies properly.
The Big Causes
Having been on the front of battle for 20 years, the last 15 running WatchMojo, I’m admittedly battle-worn in some ways, but more ambitious than ever to make an impact by channeling my energies for efficiently. It’s clear to me now why I had to defend a frivolous injunction and lawsuit from Rupert Murdoch’s Fox, or spend a decade defending egregious ContentID transgressions taming myriad of rights holders and bring them largely along my side…
It’s time for me to identify sources of injustice, arrogance and inequality and align my experiences into a counter-force alongside the underdogs. I’ve been serving and writing about the underdog, I can now do something about.
The true ROE is thus not return on equity but Return on Energy. What are some of the areas that need a counter-force according to you? Stick around to find out.
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