What Purpose Maximization Looks Like
“Matt,” I said somewhat sheepishly, “This data doesn’t make any sense. All these numbers look like they were just made up.”
“That’s because they are, Phillip.”
Stunned, I tried to figure out what this meant—was Matt committing fraud? Was he intentionally lying to his customers?
Before I had time to get much further down that rabbit hole, Matt continued, “We don’t use Kate’s data. She sends it over, but we discard it. She doesn’t know, and there’s no need to bring it up.”
The look on my face must have clearly communicated how befuddled his response left me because he continued on.
“Kate was one of our best. She loved the work and did anything we needed—but when she got cancer, she couldn’t keep up with the fieldwork due to her treatments. So, we got her a laptop, taught her Excel, and she worked on our data remotely. Unfortunately, she has gotten to the point where even the data is bad, but this work gives her dignity during a hard time. After all she has done for us, this is the least we can do for her. So, we take her data, pay her, and throw it out.”
It took me a moment to process what Matt had just shared, and when it hit me, I was overwhelmed by a wave of emotions—respect, humility, compassion, and inspiration.
I was inspired because Matt refused to run his business as a profit-maximizing machine. He had deeper convictions which he exercised quietly, without fanfare. Matt was a Purpose Maximizing leader.
This conversation has stuck with me ever since; even shaping the way I think about our purpose at SaverSystems.
Our purpose is to maximize the well-being of our employee-owners.
Profit is a part of this; and so is excellent customer service, quality products, and excellence in operations. In order to maximize well-being, we have to stay in business. Additionally, a long-term stream of cash flow yields a higher share value, which benefits our employee-owners financially. So, I’m not claiming leaders should ignore profit.
But the well-being of our members includes more than just their balance sheet. It includes how we treat them every day, who gets invited onto the team, the opportunities we provide for personal and intellectual growth, and the dignity and respect we show them as humans.
However, we will always strive to put our purpose first. We refuse to pursue profits when they come at the cost of achieving our core purpose—just like Matt did all those years ago with Kate.