The Engine

If this article sounds familiar, you’re not imagining things. I wrote this on LinkedIn in the summer of 2023. I’ve made few changes, as I think it quite effectively makes the statement I mean to convey. Dear reader, I assure you it’ll be worth your 2 minutes. Let’s make like Wendy Peffercorn and dive right in.

I once heard about a study wherein rats were made to run on a wheel, and would be rewarded with food for their effort. They did the work, and thus reaped the benefit. Once the rats were sufficiently conditioned, the experiment’s conductors stopped rewarding the rats for their effort. What happened? They continued to run. They worked for the sake of working, even when the effort/reward relationship no longer made sense. Now, I can’t find this study online, and perhaps it needs peer-review or further scrutiny. But for now, I’ll leave that as it is.

"The purpose of a corporation is to make money" Is this true? Friedman would argue yes. I don't remember when exactly I accepted this, but I did at some point, and have passively allowed it to remain unchallenged truth in my mind ever since. What if that isn't the case? Is it a safety net that allows corporations to justify unethical practices? Or is it a legitimate reality?

On one hand, it makes sense that when a business has profits, it can pay the workers doing the deed, and thus allow those people to devote their full attention to it, resulting in a better service/product.

That begs the question: at its core, perhaps a business's purpose is to provide a service or product. Otherwise, it has no social practicality. Profit is the engine to sustain and improve that service. The engine, not the purpose... an important distinction.

Yes, the shareholders are the owners, and a business would do well to appeal to its owners by improving upon their investment. Many make that their priority.

But priority ≠ purpose.

So, are profits the goal, and the product is the means to get there? Or vice-versa? That seems like a simple reversal, but it has dire consequences in a world where major corporations won't hesitate to use slave labor, child labor, poor working conditions, etc., all while resting safely behind the undisputed notion that its purpose, after all, is to make profits.

Which is the engine, and which is the purpose?