On Principle, Not Outcome
By Jake on May 15th, 2009
As I sit and look at my 2 yr old son, I think about all that I want to teach him. As his father, I see it as my responsibility to teach him first about our great God, and to instill in him principles to live his life by. That made me think a lot about what principles are. They are not conditional; they are absolute and independent of any outside circumstance.
I’ve been working from the local coffee shop for the better part of the week and have overheard many conversations which prompted me to take a step back and look at our current culture objectively. A lot of our decisions aren’t based on principle, they’re based on the result or outcome of those decisions. ‘What impact will this have on my career? my life? my future?’ ‘What will my peers think?’ ‘How will society see this?’ ‘Will this benefit our company?’ ‘Will this get us ahead of the competitors?’ These are the questions that are often asked when making decisions. None of these questions are based on principle, but rather the outcome of the situation. I think that is where a lot of our current problems lie.
If I develop a set of principles that govern my personal life, my career, my social life, etc., I can easily make the right decision regardless of the outcome. If you have no principles to live by, you tend to be tossed to and fro with every whim of society. I can ask ‘Is this consistent with my convictions?’ or ‘Does this violate my moral code?.’ I challenge you today to be a person of principle, instead of being capricious.
This concept is especially important in business. Companies that act on principle seem to be more likely to succeed in the long run. You see great companies like Zappos, Chick-Fil-A, 37signals, & In-n-Out Burger who start with principles and build their business on them. You also see companies that are just looking to make a quick profit who base all decisions on the desired outcome. They may make that quick buck, but they lack the foundation to be successful in the long run. They end up sacrificing customer service, losing focus, or doing something stupid.
We at Free Air Collective hope to build a business on principle and to make products that help people & companies do the same. That’s why we’re excited about our first product, Site Remark. It allows companies to move to more transparent customer communication. A company that is committed to customer service will see this a natural evolution of their customer service committment. When you show that you are willing to be just as public with your failures as you are with your successes, your customers know they have a company they can trust.
One Response to 'On Principle, Not Outcome'
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Eric Carroll said:
I’ve thought a lot about this lately as well; especially in relation to my children and how it affects our involvement in other areas of life.
Ultimately, it starts at home. Your principles you develop on a personal level affect every facet of your life. I’ve come across people that say they keep God/church/religion separate from their business and business dealings. Their relationships with God/church/religion take a backseat to anything they do in business. Key principles such as “do not steal” or “treat others like you want to be treated” become relative (instead of being an absolute) to their ambitions, plans and goals.
Short-term thinking and immediate gratification has also been highly noticeable to me, lately. Long-term planning seems to be absent with a lot of people I’ve encountered recently. I mean, I’m guilty of it at times as well, but I’m trying very hard to look at the bigger, overall picture of what my actions and words will bring about in regards to the well-being of my kids, my wife and others around me.
It takes constant effort, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s worth the extra work and thinking.
Kudos to FAC for working towards the goals you’ve set, but more importantly for motivation behind it.
on 15 May 09 at 1:57 pm