The Pursuit of Happiness

As famously stated in the US Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

I believe that the pursuit of happiness, as both an end and a means, is a critical component of a successful business. The type of business opportunities that most interest me are those that will enhance the happiness of customers, and which can be addressed in a manner that creates a joyful experience for employees. No doubt there will be hard work along the way, and depressing setbacks, so it won’t always be fun. Nonetheless, development of the business should be approached in a way that provides employees with opportunities for personal growth and fulfillment, in an environment where people are treated with dignity and respect, where we all enjoy spending time together as we attempt to create happiness for our customers and value for our shareholders.

This concept has been a fundamental belief of mine since my earliest days in business. I’m not sure why anyone would want to spend a large portion of their life working on any particular activity if they didn’t enjoy it. As I gained more experience and was exposed to more successful colleagues, I began to meet and read about others who shared this philosophy, and some were quite outspoken about it.

I believe I first saw this concept presented in a formal plan in 1990.  Bob Board was General Manager of Perkin-Elmer-Cetus Instruments at the time, having served previously in Silicon Valley at Hewlett-Packard and with Dave Nelson at Nelson Analytical. The primary goals we jointly agreed upon for our business that year were:

• Be the clear leader in all markets in which we compete, both in terms of market share and perceived quality of product

• Achieve or exceed revenue, growth and profit goals

• Build strong customer relationships, understand current and future customer needs, and provide systems which offer solutions

• Maintain an enjoyable working environment, characterized by enthusiasm, trust, respect and teamwork

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Medtronic was a formidable public company focused on medical devices that was growing at an impressive rate. Beyond the numbers, I was struck by the philosophy communicated by retiring CEO Winston Wallin in their 1991 annual report. In six years under his leadership the company had revenues from $370 million to over $1 billion, their market capitalization increased from $461 million to $3.3 billion, and their stock price soared from $14 to $111. The entire article is a great read, but what really caught my eye were his comments on people and values:

          On Medtronic’s People:

“Nothing is more important to the success of this company than our people, at all levels of the organization and in all of our various locations around the world. Nothing happens around here unless our employees make it happen. They are ultimately responsible for our success. We need to make sure not only that we have capable and dedicated people, but also that they enjoy their work, feel good about their company, and believe that they are making a difference.”

On Medtronic’s Values:

“The culture of any company has a lot to do with its success. At Medtronic we have been questioning how we do things and consciously trying to shape the culture to correspond with our values. We value a place where people are treated with dignity and can find satisfaction in their jobs – where advancement is on the basis of merit – where high integrity is valued – where decentralized decision making is predominant – where employees receive fair compensation – and where we can all have a little fun.”

More recently I read Sam Zell’s book, “Am I Being Too Subtle” (2017), which I’d highly recommend. A few quotes from Sam reinforce exactly what I’m trying to say about the pursuit of happiness in the context of businesses:

“You don’t go wheeling and dealing for the money, you do it for fun. Money’s just a way of keeping score.”

“If I’m being intellectually challenged, if I’m doing things I’ve never done before, if I’m using my creativity and resources to solve problems, if I’m constantly learning — that is fun.”

“Thou shalt not take thyself too seriously,”

“If it ain’t fun, we don’t do it.”

Sam is not alone in this perspective. Here are few other well known entrepreneurs who came to similar conclusions over a long period of time:

"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes."

- Andrew Carnegie (Entrepreneur)

“If you don’t do it excellently, don’t do it at all. Because if it’s not excellent, it won’t be profitable or fun, and if you’re not in business for fun or profit, what the hell are you doing there?”

- Robert Townsend (Up The Organization. 1970)

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."

- Steve Jobs (CEO, Apple)

"I don't believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process."

- Oprah Winfrey (Founder, Oprah Winfrey Network)

"I never went into business just to make money - but I found that if I have fun, the money will come. I often ask myself, is my work fun and does it make me happy? I believe that the answer to that is more important than fame or fortune. If it stops being fun, I ask why? If I can't fix it, I stop doing it."

- Richard Branson (Founder, Virgin Group)

As if all of these anecdotes were not enough to convince someone of how important happiness is to a successful business, consider this from Inc. Magazine, Aug 9, 2018:

“A recent poll by Partners In Leadership confirms that when employees are happier at work, 85% say they take more initiative; 73% say they are better collaborators; and 48% care more about their work. Effective leaders who understand the correlation between higher levels of engagement, happiness, and productivity facilitate movement in the right direction--and have people feel good about it.” 

Simon Sinek, both in his book “Start with Why” (2009) as well as his TED Talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”, drives home the point that great business leaders inspire their employees and their customers, and they do this by passionately communicating shared beliefs, by connecting on an emotional level. They demonstrate an understanding of why one should feel highly motivated to develop a product, or why one should feel compelled to own a product. I’d argue that at some basic level “it makes them happy” is often (always?) the answer to the question of “why”.

I’ve tried to incorporate this philosophy in every business with which I’ve been involved. I’m only interested in opportunities that I believe will be intellectually stimulating, where I can work alongside colleagues I’d enjoy spending time with, in the belief that we can create value for all of our stakeholders (including customers), and have fun doing so.

The pursuit of happiness is what it’s all about. Or as the musician Jerry Garcia put it (before Sam Zell?), “if it ain’t fun, don’t do it.”