Theme.
This week's #founderhacks are on navigating moral dilemmas.
Seen.
Feelin' Good
This week we saw a business that made sure that everyone they came in to contact with was left feeling good.
Firstly they made sure anyone they met heard the pitch and knew the purpose of the business and how it made the world better. Then they just made sure that everyone had a good experience. They might offer a small gift or act of generosity, or simply scrupulously follow up every contact, even if just to say "thank you".
The result was that anyone who had met the business seemed to want it to succeed.
Doing this paid dividends. People just liked them. So the business got more out of every interaction they had - whether better prices from suppliers, or more free help from lawyers and accountants. They seemed to surf a tidal wave of goodwill.
For us, this showed the real power of having a confident moral code and clarity of purpose. This business believed it was good to treat people well, and stuck by that.
The world responded by treating them well in return.
Read.
Means and Ends
Most of our readers and listeners will have seen the recent news from Elon Musk's Neuralink business, demonstrating a monkey controlling a video game via electrodes implanted in it's brain.
The potential for people with neurological disabilities is profound. Yet many reacted to the cruelty inflicted on the animal.
Most founders will experience moral dilemmas at some stage, albeit perhaps not on such a major stage. Whether to bend a rule or principle to take the business forwards, or simply whether to dismiss or support an underperforming team member, questions that test our morality will confront us.
So do the means justify the end - and how do we check?
It perhaps starts with noticing when a question has a moral dimension, and making space to consciously check. We've seen some founders ask themselves what their children or partners would think of them. Others leverage a network of people different to them to make sure they are hearing different perspectives.
Wherever we chose to align our moral compass, developing a consistent sense of what is right and what is wrong - that you and your team can stick with - seems a competency many founders rely on.
Learned.
Turning Back
This week one of us made a mistake. They agreed a deal that seemed lucrative, but transpired to be unwise.
Reflecting on this, with hindsight, it was clear the cash had loomed large in their decision making process. All that glistens is not gold and this time nothing could be further from the truth.
Having identified this, they set their mind to going back and correcting the mistake. They owned it, felt it, and then had the very challenging conversations to redress it.
Failing well is a topic many founders are familiar with. But the importance of doing so on questions of morality is all the more critical. The history of business is littered with examples of a single step off the moral highway leading to disaster. These stories almost always involve people doubling down on a first seemly innocuous moral transgression, in efforts to cover up or deny that they've got it wrong.
Finding the strength to step back on to the right road is always to be admired.
And finally.
On this weeks podcast we talked some more about purpose.
We wondered if businesses that do an obviously good thing have it easier. Maybe wearing a purpose on your sleeve is easy for a cool social enterprise, but what about other kinds of business?
Then we were reminded of a story. A consultant was working with a debt collection agency to improve team engagement. He asked about purpose. The Directors said their purpose was to get money for the biggest banks and credit card companies in the world from debtors who mostly couldn't afford to pay. Maybe true, but not terribly inspiring.
So the consultant hosted a workshop, determined to discover a noble intent for their work.
After three days, they found a purpose: to help restore people's dignity. No-one wants debt they can't afford, and they had the power to help people achieve freedom from the stigma and stress of unpaid debt.
Sharing this new - and more empathetic - purpose changed the context for them and their team. The business didn't do anything different - not one process changed - but it felt different. The team were more engaged and started treating debtors differently. Not as criminals, but as people who needed help.
Whilst not the focus of the initiative, their recovery rate also significantly increased.
So maybe there is always a noble purpose to be had, if you're willing to discover it.
Don’t forget to check out the accompanying podcast version of #founderhacks for a tantalising live experience of team atomex!
