Chapter 5-Arête: A Better Organization

Betterness and business are both sets of habits, or patterns of behavior. But betterness consists of a radically different set of habits than orthodox business.

Imagine a company—call it Bob’s Company, Inc.—that has mastered making bland, humdrum industrial-age stuff (envision any, or perhaps even all, the widgets of your choosing, whether burgers, McMansions, or financial securities). Imagine the high-fiving rites and rituals of daily life inside its four walls. It’s the company next door, and it’s a living testament to the practiced refinement of an aging set of Sloanite, Fordist, Marshallian, Ricardian habits for human exchange.

The way I see it, if Bob’s Company were a person—just Bob—he’d probably ...

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