Dec 7, 2009
What is Really Important?
On Thursday Winethinker posted a good article entitled What is Really Important?
I have gone back to it a few times over the weekend. I agree with all ten points but I felt there was something missing and until this morning I could not put my finger on it.
The values on the list do describe a great working environment and any company that achieves this level of harmony would have a good chance of success but whats missing is a profit culture.
Lately I’ve been reflecting about what is most important to me about work. If I were to run my own company what would I focus on? Here’s my top 10 list, in no particular order.
What is Really Important? « Winethinker’s Weblog
Net Profit Culture – Some would say this is too basic to list as something “really important” but I disagree. Many investors and leadership teams build company cultures where revenue is the only measurement of success. VC funded leadership teams are often revenue focused because revenue is easy to manipulate and allows an organization that is hemorrhaging cash to show positive number progress. This revenue focus and the need to see it improve every quarter leads to short-sighted, short-term decision making. Some will get their overvalued exit but more will fail or suffer post-exit failure; few will build lasting value.
The hard part would be deciding what item I would choose to remove from winethinkers list to make room for profitability..
madpeacock – you picked up on one of my dilemmas as well. I almost went back into that post and added a comment that these were cultural “importants” and that the desire for profitability was a given. I decided to leave the post “pure” I guess I like to think that if you have the right team and the right values and the passion to be successful that you will find a way to be profitable. Focusing purely on profitability can cause a lot of damage, but clearly if it isn’t even considered the company will not be successful. Thanks for the thoughtful response. — winethinker
I agree that your list is pure, I like it that way and that’s why it took me 2 days of reading and re-reading before I decided to comment.
I think however I have come to believe focus on profit is a culture thing, not a logic thing that smart people will see and do. I have seen smart people chasing revenue too often.
I agree that balance with the rest of your list is essential, profitability like everything else can’t stand alone.