“Betterness”, Umair Haque’s take on 21st Century business, is a thought-provoking and inspirational book that challenges conventional businesses (and their leaders) to seek a higher purpose in what they do, and how they do it.
Here’s Umair setting up the assault:
Ask yourself…
Why, despite billions spent on “change,” “transformation,” “training,” and “engagement,” does the work most organizations offer most people seem so unfulfilling?
Why is it that the unhappiest part of the day has been found to be … the daily commute to work, closely followed by being at work when so much of our short lives are spent at work?
Why are most vision statements maddeningly unvisionary?
Why is it that if in most boardrooms, you uttered words like “wisdom,” “truth,” “love,” “beauty,” or “justice”—the timeless expressions of the highest human potential—you’d probably end up in handcuffs, a straitjacket, or both?
Why is it that the globe’s trillions of person-hours of human effort are dedicated to … designer diapers, disposable clothes, and pet Prozac?
Why is business chronically and often unashamedly at odds with what’s good for people, society, and the natural world?
Why is the generally accepted definition of prosperity the growth of industrial output, not the emotional, social, intellectual, physical, or ethical growth of humans?
Indeed, why?
And, perhaps most important, what are you going to do about it?
