Conscious Capitalism – A New Way of Doing Business

Capitalism is considered the most successful economic model ever conceived. And contrary to popular opinion, capitalism is not about the wealthiest individuals in society — it is about the betterment of society. However, public distrust of capitalism is growing. Consumers, employees, and other stakeholders feel that businesses have neglected their interests while single-mindedly pursuing profits.

Conscious capitalism has emerged in response to these concerns. It represents a shift from business as usual to a new way of doing business. Conscious capitalism is both a philosophy and a business model.

It promotes a more complex, more encompassing form of capitalism that encourages awareness while pursuing profits. This means businesses should consider all the stakeholders involved, including those that cannot speak for themselves, such as the environment. At the forefront of these efforts is Conscious Capitalism, a nonprofit organization that brings together like-minded business owners to do things consciously.

Conscious Capitalism focuses on impact maximization by pursuing a higher purpose, conscious business culture, stakeholder orientation, and conscious leadership. These are the four pillars supporting the organization’s mission. The goal is not to limit capitalist powers but to inspire business leaders to aspire for more.

The principle of higher purpose encourages business leaders to view profit-making as a means to an end — impacting society positively — instead of as an end in itself. Recognizing that humanity has often taken a backseat in the quest for profit maximization, Conscious Capitalism encourages business leaders to positively impact society even as they pursue monetary gain.

Corporations are increasingly viewed as soulless capitalistic machines, solely concerned with the bottom line. Conscious Capitalism, through the principle of stakeholder orientation, encourages business leaders to pursue capitalist goals in a way that best reflects their stakeholders’ conditions and the state of the environment in which they operate.

Stakeholder orientation encourages business owners to create and optimize value with and for their stakeholders, instead of only taking value from them. This calls for optimizing value so that profit, people, and the planet have equal value in the eyes of business leaders.

Conscious capitalism emerged due to growing distrust between corporations and their stakeholders. Customers and employees felt that they were getting the short end of the stick. Meanwhile, environmental activists were lamenting the harm done to the planet by corporations. In response, Conscious Capitalism created the principle of conscious culture.

A conscious culture is entrenched in organizations’ business models, practices, and principles. Conscious Capitalism as an organization encourages a business culture in which business values reflect conscious capitalism, informing all decisions and fostering a culture of trust among all participants.

This is the major difference between conscious capitalism and corporate social responsibility. The latter treats social responsibility as a side project, while the former sees it as an ongoing process that is part and parcel of all corporate decisions.

It’s one thing to build and advocate for conscious business systems. Getting business leaders onboard is another thing altogether. Armed with this knowledge, Conscious Capitalism sees conscious leadership as the glue that holds the other three pillars together.

Without forward-looking leaders who understand that profit-making is a means to an end and that the people, planet, and profit are equal pursuits, it’s extremely hard to implement a conscious culture within a business. Conscious Capitalism strives to cultivate in business leaders a spirit of self-awareness in the hopes that such leaders will inspire other stakeholders to travel along the same path.

The overarching goal of Conscious Capitalism’s credo is to use business to elevate humanity, not diminish it. It’s not about pushing profit-making to the backseat in favor of socialism. Instead, it respects and builds on the foundation of traditional capitalism, promoting competition, free trade, entrepreneurship, and the rule of law — only in a more collaborative and compassionate manner.

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Games and Gamification – Impact Across Sectors

Bernard Suits, a philosopher, once said that games are much more than mere pastimes that occupy people when they have nothing to do. Games offer individuals an avenue to exert most of their untapped intelligence and passion into a rewarding, simulated experience.

In her eponymous movie, Mary Poppins explains the very essence of gamification: “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and SNAP! The job’s a game.” Gamification is simply the process of applying game-design concepts and principles in non-game contexts.

Gamification existed long before Mary Poppins pointed it out. In the early 1900s, a Boy Scout earned badges and ranks after completing a task or mission. The 1970s and 80s witnessed the take-off of video games. Games like “Math Blaster” and “Reader Rabbit” were popular games geared towards educating its players.

Video games and computer games have become mainstream in the United States. A 2020 study established that a little over 163 million American adults in America play video games, and 70 percent of kids in the Untied States 18 and below are active gamers. Consequently, gamification is increasingly becoming an invaluable tool across industries and sectors- especially marketing.

In 2013, Forbes estimated that more than half of their “Global 2000 Companies” planned to incorporate gamification into their marketing structure and overall work architecture. According to Gartner, about 70 percent of the Global 2000 Companies have begun implementing game-design elements and principles in their companies.

Statistics show that one in three employees in contemporary America are millennials, a generation that grew up gaming. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2025, 75 percent of the American workforce will consist of millennials. According to a Gallup report, when a company has highly motivated employees, the company is likely to become 21 percent more efficient. Its profits will be 22 percent higher, and the rate of customer satisfaction will increase 10 percent.

It becomes evident why senior executives at Global 2000 companies would propose incorporating gamification into operations and customer relations. Eighty-five percent of employees become even more motivated when gamification exists in the workplace. Gamification impacts the employee’s performance, innovation, and personal development. It introduces a reward system that motivates them to complete set goals.

Learning applications like “Read Along” by Google and Minecraft help students learn in the educational sector. Research shows that 80 percent of students learn better with gamified practices. Minecraft, for instance, teaches students how to code. Read-Along features Google’s voice technology and encourages kids to read and concentrate on stories.

The United States Army has launched a gamified platform for its recruitment process in the military sector. Enrollees can demonstrate their ability to become a soldier. Virtual battles are not substitutes for real-world combat, but this initiative is cost-effective. About 30 percent of American youths perceive the US Army more positively.

A popular pizza chain, Domino’s Pizza, has also included gamification into its recruitment process via the mobile application Pizza Hero. Since the app’s release, sales have increased as high as 30 percent. Starbucks, FourSquare, and Nike are some corporations that applied gamification to their business processes with successful results.

The research vice president at Gartner, Brian Burke, believes that for gamification as applied in a business setting to work, it must contain three elements: motivation, momentum, and meaning. He believes that gamification could become as important as Amazon or Facebook if applied just right.

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