Rethinking Business to Honor God and Change the World [blog series]

During September and October of 2011, I wrote a blog series entitled “Rethinking Business to Honor God and Change the World”. In the wake of the Occupy Wall Street movement that had quickly spread internationally, the tepid economic times, and the slow recovery from the latest Recession, much of the world’s attention was focused on business and how business was done. There was (and still is) a widespread dissatisfaction with how current businesses were run – the greed, scandals, and selfishness associated especially with large corporations.

In light of all this, I asked the question, “How can Business be done differently? How would God want us to run business?” Over two months, I read many books and articles on the subject, interviewed many business owners and people in business, and wrote about the subject.

Here is a summary of the blog posts I wrote:

WHAT IS WRONG WITH BUSINESS?
Why do some people hate business?
Even business students are disillusioned with business
Are salespeople the scum of the earth?
Are corporations psychopathic?
Is advertising to children ethical?
Is there a better way to do business?
Economic theory: My selfishness helps others so it is good
I work hard to make my COO rich
Maximize the good, minimize the evil

STORIES FROM BUSINESS PEOPLE
God's Purpose for Business
Serving Employees First
Are we colleagues first, friends second?
Canadian Office Supplies: Helping Others
Business Must be Profitable, Fun, and Further God's Kingdom
Just Work: A Social Enterprise in Vancouver
The Entrepreneurial Initiative in New York
Start Something that Matters - the TOMS Story
My Ideal Workplace

ALTERNATIVE BUSINESS MODELS
What if God wrote a mission statement for Business?
BAM! An Introduction to Business as Mission
Social Enterprise: Merging the Profit and Non-Profit World
My paper: Rethinking Business to Honor God and Change the World
Occupy Wall Street's message: Business for Good

My paper: Rethinking Business to Honor God and Change the World

Over the last two months, I've been working on this paper on what it means to do business to honor God and how business can change the world. This paper is a work in progress, and I hope to continue editing it. I would love to hear your feedback, comments, and suggestions. Please email me or leave a comment on the blog. Thank you.

Rethinking Business to Honor God and Change the World

What if God wrote a mission statement for Business?

What if God wrote a mission statement for Business? That's the question that Jeff Van Duzer, dean of Seattle Pacific University (a Christian university started in 1891 by the Free Methodists), asks in his book Why Business Matters to God (And What Still Needs to be Fixed). The answer to his question is reflected in the "Business as Service" model. 

Businesses exist not to maximize profits, but to serve people. Traditional businesses serve customers and employees as a means to the ultimate ends of maximizing profits. The Business as Service company sees generating profits as a means to its ends, which is to serve its customers and its employees.

Jeff writes, “I would conclude that at this time in history, there are two legitimate, first-order, intrinsic purpose of business: as stewards of God’s creation, business leaders should manage their businesses (1) to provide the community with goods and services that will enable it to flourish, and (2) to provide opportunities for meaningful work that will allow employees to express their God-given creativity.” [1]

Besides pursuing the twin goals of serving customers and employees, the Business as Service companies should seek to do so within the limits of sustainability. The decisions should be limited to the need to operate in ways that “do no harm” to any of the business’s stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, the environment, and the community.[2]

The Business as Service model originates from the Creation Mandate given to Adam and Eve by God in Genesis 1 and 2. Jeff Van Duzer breaks down the Creation Mandate into several parts.[3]

1)   Human beings are called to steward God’s creation.

2)   Human beings are made in the image of God and thus created to be in relationship with God and with other people.

3)   Human beings are made in the image of God and thus created to work like God did. “Adam and Eve were called to creatively organize (name the animals) and manage these resources (take dominion), to enhance the productivity of the Garden (be fruitful and multiply) in a sustainable (guard creation) manner.”[4]

4)   Humans are made to live within limits. Though made in the image of God, men and women are inherently limited and created to live within boundaries.

5)   God delights in variety and created humans to complement one another, as Eve was created different from Adam, yet complementary.

6)   “God intended that men and would take the raw materials that had been provided and, in partnership with God, help to grow and construct the kingdom here on earth.”[5] Humans are called to co-create with God, to cause the Earth to flourish and be fruitful.

7)   Human beings are called to be fruitful and multiply, to enjoy sexual-relations and produce offspring.

Businesses should see themselves as not the only institution to attempt to fulfill God’s mandates given in Genesis 1 and 2, but a part of many institutions each playing a unique, yet complementary role. Van Duzer writes that certain institutions are better suited for certain tasks within the Cultural Mandate. For example, the family is a better institution for the bearing and raising of children (be fruitful and multiply). The church and neighbourhood might be the best settings to nurture community. The government may be in a better position to assume primary responsibility for guarding creation.[6]

As businesses pursue its purposes of enabling creative work (innovation) and producing community-flourishing products (productivity) in a sustainable manner, it should be mindful of the fact that it was designed to work in partnership with all other institutions in order that they might collectively advance God’s kingdom on earth. Whenever possible, business managers should operate their businesses that respect other institutional agendas and wherever possible, look for opportunities for collaboration to advance the common good.[7]

What do you think about the Business as Service model? Agree or disagree?

---

[1] Van Duzer, Jeff, Why Business Matters to God. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010), 42.  [2] Ibid., 28.  [3] Ibid., 27-38.  [4] Ibid., 33.  [5] Ibid., 38.  [6] Ibid., 40-41.  [7] Ibid., 168

My Ideal Workplace

Over the course of my 8 year career, I have sometimes thought about quitting my job in search for a better one (this usually happens when I'm super stressed or super bored). I found myself thinking about finding new work this past summer and asked myself, "What would be my ideal workplace to work in?"

A few weeks ago I had lunch with two of my engineer friends, and I asked them the same question. One friend was a realist, and it took some encouraging and prodding to get him to think about the possibility of an ideal workplace (which he thought to be unrealistic and an impossibility), but he finally gave in and started dreaming with us.

One of them talked about people being the most important part of a workplace. He wanted to work with people he respected and were friends with, which would add social value to his life. He continued by talking about opportunities to travel, to be involved in a variety of work, to learn, and to interact with all stakeholders. He would love to do work that directly improved the life of other people, work that helped others grow and learn. The other engineer talked about having interest in the work, and being able to provide for himself and his future family.

For myself, my ideal workplace would include 5 things.
1) I am able to do excellent work. I want to use my strengths in my work, to offer my skills and abilities to the organization that employs me. I want to do work that I am passionate about, which will motivate me to do my job better. I want to work with a team of people where my strengths complement them, and their strengths complement me. I want to work at my absolute best.

2) My work has a greater impact on the world. I want my work to make a meaningful and significant impact. I want to believe in the mission of my company, and know that it is making a difference in making the world a better place. I want to know that my company genuinely cares for its customers, suppliers, the environment, and the community it is a part of, and makes efforts in serving them.

3) My work provides for my family. It is important that my work provides me with enough to support my family. I don't need to be rich, but I also don't want to be stressed to make ends meet. This includes my income, but also my health plan, wellness or family days to allow me to take care of my family when they are sick, and vacation time that allows me to spend quality time creating memories with my family. I also hope my workplace will be an extended community for my family, where my wife and children can engage with my colleagues and benefit from that interaction. For example, if I had a daughter that was interested in learning about design work, that she could work with the marketing team of my company for a summer and learn things that I could not teach her.

4) There are meaningful relationships in my workplace. I want to build quality friendships in my workplace, people that I respect and trust. People that I can have fun with. I want my workplace to be a community that is supportive, a team that works well together. I want my company to have positive relationships with its customers and suppliers.

5) My work gives me opportunity to grow personally. I want my workplace to be a place I can grow in maturity. That it would be a community helps me discover my strengths and passions and gives me opportunities to develop them. I want to work with people that can mentor and coach me to grow, and I want the chance to mentor and coach others as well. My ideal workplace would provide me opportunities to take classes and education. And I want to be given work that is challenging and stretches me, leading to growth.

Am I asking for too much? Maybe. But no matter where I am working, I want to be a part of the solution, and help change the culture of the organization so that it becomes closer and closer to everyone's ideal workplace. Not only would it make the employees happier and more satisfied, but I believe that there would be greater staff engagement and improved work effectiveness and efficiency.

What would your ideal workplace look like?