Elegant simplicity in business
Photograph © Daniel Elkan 2022
In a world that wants to keep hustling and believing that “bigger is better”, we’ve always had a different measure of success.
For us, it’s about forging deep friendships and relationships, getting out in nature, making things that give people delight, and making sure that those you love get more of you.
To do this can mean simplifying our lives - including in business.
Life-long activist, former monk, and author of Elegant Simplicity: The Art of Living Well, Satish Kumar has been inspiring global change for over 50 years.
In his 20s, Satish undertook a peace-pilgrimage for nuclear disarmament, walking without money from India to America.
Now in his 80s, Satish has devoted his life to campaigning for ecological regeneration, social justice and spiritual fulfilment.
This one’s for you if…
You need a jolt of inspiration to put friendship and purpose before profits
You want to make money and business a force for good
You struggle with uncertainty and how to best navigate it
You’re interested in learning about trusting yourself, trusting nature, and moving from ownership to relationship
Here are nine takeaways from the conversation:
1. Business is a good thing
Something we’ve noticed in our community, especially around pricing, is an unconscious belief that being a business is a negative thing. But as Satish reminds us,
“Business is a good thing. We need business in our society because without businesses we cannot run anything.
For food, for clothes, for shoes, for furniture, for house, for energy, everything you have to make transaction. You have to exchange goods and services.”
2. Be in business to make friends
Countless people come to Happy Startup events for business reasons or to gain clarity, and then say it's like a friend factory. We suspect Satish’s father would have approved.
“My father was a businessman, but he used to say that “I want to remain a kind of right size, not too big, not too small, appropriate size.”
And people would ask him, “But then why are you in business? You must grow and grow and make more money and more profit and more money.”
And my father said, “I'm in business to make friends. Making money is only a means to an end.”
3. There is a greater purpose
So much business advice revolves around making more money, but we’ve always believed that there’s more to life than that. As Satish puts it perfectly,
“Making money is a means to an end. The end is human relationships. Pleasure, joy, friendship, happiness, looking after nature, looking after family, looking after people.
There are greater purposes, and greater meaning, behind any action you do.”
4. What are you committed to?
It’s something we explore when we help people draft up their Purpose Playbook - the values that underpin a new business or new direction.
“What is your commitment? What are your values? What's the purpose behind your business?
“I'm here to serve a community,” "I'm here to take care of nature," or “I'm here to do something.” You have to find a purpose, a meaning behind business.”
5. Money is neutral
So many people in our community struggle with money because their inner stories tell them that money is a bad thing. But what if it’s simply how you use it?
“Money is a neutral thing. Like, I'm speaking to you, these words are neutral .. Business is neutral, like language is neutral..
So how you use money, the purpose, the commitment to purpose, informs the use of the money .. And so you have to have something greater.”
6. Relationships, not resources
Some of us start our own businesses because we’re tired of being treated poorly. How different would life be if HR stood for something else?
“I would like to change HR from Human Resources to Human Relationship. Then you make a profit, you make money, and you make a business successful.
So human relations are enhanced. And a friendship, and all those things, the well-being of humans, the well-being of the earth, should not be a resource for making money or running an organisation."
7. Nature is not a means to an end
One of the reasons we hold so many events in nature is to strengthen our connection to the outside world. But too often, our society sees nature as another resource simply for making money.
"I would like to change that as well. Economic growth should be a means to make sure that our water is clean, our air is clean, our food is good, and our clothes are made well.
All beauty, and sustainability, and nature's integrity, that should be the purpose.”
8. Trust in your resilience
One of the greatest challenges of being a human being, let alone an entrepreneur, is wrestling with uncertainty. Satish used the example of planting an apple seed; it’s certain that it will grow and bear fruit, but the quantity will vary.
“And if some difficulties come, you can trust yourself. “I am resilient, I'm strong, I can face difficulty.”
Do not be afraid of problems. Do not be afraid of difficulties. Difficulties make us strong. Difficulties make us resilient.”
9. A change of heart is as important as a change of business
Ultimately, a change of business is a great start, but it’s not enough. Inner change is needed to create a lasting outer impact.
“If we just try to change the law, the policy, the kind of business practices, those are okay.
But if our minds have not changed, our consciousness has not changed, our hearts have not changed, the outer change will not last very long and we'll find other way of exploiting nature and exploiting human beings.
So change of heart is as important as change of business. Change of heart is as important as change of policy.
Change of heart is as important as change of economic systems and educational systems.”
Satish’s message, that money and business are neutral but can be used for positive impact on each other and the world, is a shot in the arm for those of us who know that there’s another way to do business - and to live life.
One of the core values of our community is a desire to be the change we want to see in the world. Come along to an event, join our community, or learn more about our Vision 20/20 program and find like-hearted others to walk this journey with you.
And let’s create a positive impact on the world, together.
Notes
Thank you so much to Satish for his time and timeless wisdom. His books include Elegant Simplicity: The Art of Living Well, Soil Soul Society: A New Trinity For Our Time, and No Destination: Autobiography of a Pilgrim.
He founded Schumacher College and The Resurgence Trust, an educational charity that seeks a just future for all. To join Satish in protecting people and planet become a member of Resurgence (with 20% off), entitling you to this charity’s change-making magazine, Resurgence & Ecologist.
If you’d like to find your deeper purpose at work, our next tribe of our Vision 20/20 program starts March 2024.
