Extending the Horizon
Even and especially in the field of business analysis, one of the most difficult goals to pursue is to extend your own horizon, to broaden one’s analytical capacity to grasp the value of values. The human mind, and consequently the means we use, are limited by definition, whereas one should tend to have the widest possible view, and ideally arrive at an absolute value analysis. Long story short: take into account every variable, especially in the long term view.
Consider the cost assessment of a new development, for example.
In planning a project, it would be desirable to become aware of costs in their broadest definition, in their totality. even the impact in areas not immediately adjacent to that of the project itself. As we say now, it should be taken into account the cost of overall sustainability, in its most extended sense. This could require a lot of time, and dedicated tools, which are not always available.
Side Indicators
Due to the limited means that can be used, It`s trivial to premise that it will never be possible to have the perfect analysis, the effects of any decision: something will always and certainly be missing.
Just a few days ago I was reading about the effects of noise on stress: I thought who could have had the foresight to guess decades ago the psychological impact induced by the noise of the internal combustion engine. And how would it have been possible to quantify the cost? It`s something poorly analyzed even in the present day, after almost two centuries: it would have been impossible to claim it back then.
Of course, now we have new tools: AI, big data, billions of data processed in nanoseconds. It is possible to widen our vision capability, but it is useless to bother Aristotle and his syllogisms to reveal an obvious fact: any means invented by limited minds is limited itself.
In this short article, however, I would like to emphasize the importance of some aspects that are often underestimated, considered as “lateral” to classical analyses, based on scientific and objective input. In the long run, the most skeptical would say even in hindsight, some of these elements prove to be central instead. Could bring even significant economic impact on the ultimate success of the project, or even of a simple decision.
Individual Quality
It is useful, even necessary, to start with the assumption that many variables are not easily considered at time zero, lor not simply measurable. In the long run, however, they reveal a fundamental importance. What makes the project profitable in the very long term? What makes it solid and enduring over time? The answer is sometimes easy. The ideas that will be most successful are those that accompany the world to come, not just what we see in the present. To know this, it is mandatory to believe in an ideal of life, and of society. We are also and above all talking about human values, about elements that go beyond mere scientific and rational considerations of the present.
We often underestimate the value of a dream, a thought, a philosophy behind an idea. These turn out to tend to be anything but abstract elements; on the contrary, they are reflected in a concrete and monetizable, concretely tangible value.
The Example
The first of the examples that come to mind in this regard is individual quality. A job well done, a thorough analysis, pushing oneself out of the box are actions that are sometimes insignificant or at least have little impact in the short term. But, any of us could have experienced this: our effort to give and put in an extra “quid”, every day, can be really significant, not only on the project but also on the team working on it. Quality calls quality, in a virtuous circle that pushes the team to always do more. Going beyond the minimum and the indispensable, continuing to ask yourself how to improve a process, beyond the required standard, creates concrete and monetizable value. Even more so in large companies, where the multiplier effect can result in authentic excellence. In the worst case, it creates experience, know-how.
Not to mention the example that an attitude gives to young people or new hires. These are transmitted values that create a legacy of immeasurable and lasting value.
In too many economic and industrial environments, however, it is still normal to think about short-term results, and about one’s own “little garden” as they say, saving the next day, making do somehow. What is missing is depth, even introspection, and the ability to imagine one’s individual action on the surrounding environment, understood in its extension and complexity.
Ideal and Solid
Let us look at some other symbolic cases of our times. The intrinsic value related to “green” policies, or more generally, to sustainability, is obvious. Seen by those who witnessed the emergence of environmental issues, fifty years ago, and more, they might have seemed like rash, dreamy investments, based only on risky moral rather than scientific considerations. Needless to say, that was not the case at all. But now it is obvious: the accumulated delay on the development of ‘green’ technologies is a huge cost, we are forced to import from Asia, beyond the cost of production. Having believed the green ideal ever since, not seeing it as a threat but as an ‘opportunity’, would instead have given a significant competitive advantage. Following what then appeared to be only a foggy ideal would now have given a great concrete and monetizable advantage.
Short Term Convenience
And again, who would have thought decades ago that the ethical value of a multinational corporation would have a significant impact even on its stock price? Now, and this will increasingly be the case, no one willingly invests in uncertified companies.
Let me give one last example, only at first glance simplistic and out of context. I was listening to a sports journalist debate, as they were talking about a game for salvation, staying in Serie A. A draw was convenient for both teams. It was taken for granted. So was the fact that the players were implicitly agreeing not to “hurt each other.”
In short, the end justifies the means of Machiavellian memory. All logical, at first glance: staying in the top league means more revenue for both teams, means avoiding disputes, in one word tranquility. But, something is missing, however: respect for the fans, for the sport, the exaltation of higher values and ideals. Passion is valuable, the deep purpose of sport is to create an enjoyable spectacle for people paying to have fun, trust their club colors, establish fidelity… actually, play for something higher than one’s own little salvation.
Show and Respect
This is not what really makes the fans happy, let alone the paying spectators, in the stadium as well as on television. It doesn’t. It only seems that way.
In the Premier League, the fans are happy to see their team fighting, giving everything until the end, always, regardless of momentary convenience. It`s a form of respect for a higher ideal than a micro-result. This is the right teaching for young people, this is true “civic education”. But, more importantly, this brings value, even commercially. One of the positive aspects of so-called globalization is just being able to see the effects on a larger scale, it`s like being able to extend the test of one of our products on a more meaningful statistic.
So why does the Premier League sell more around the world? Maybe precisely because respect for the fan, for the spectator, comes first. Perhaps it is because you see stadiums full and enthusiastic, because you make an effort to understand and match the real “user experience”. One puts oneself in the shoes of the buyer of the product, It`s simple, such a match will have more spectators in the world. The positive message, sporting in the true sense of the word, will be more saleable over time, build a network of loyal customers, in every sense of the word. It`s a value of values.
The Value of Values
Of course, there are myriad of other examples, some only seemingly trivial, we could extend to the most diverse areas, right down to sociological ones.
Justice, freedom of enterprise, facilitating young start-ups, breaking down bureaucratic barriers. The world is still filled with barriers and walls to be torn down.
It`s exhausting to work on them, now they only seem like effort and cost: instead, they are not only ethical goals, but economic ones above all: more concrete than ever.
A just world, believing in higher ideals, is also a world that creates wealth and value.