execubooks

wisdom. wherever.
Subscribe to execubooks.com: e-summaries of books for business people

If Aristotle Ran General Motors

The New Soul of Business
By Tom Morris Published by Henry Holt & Company, 1997 ISBN 0805052526

Introduction
If Aristotle ran General Motors, what would he do? How would one of the greatest thinkers and wisest people in all of human history create lasting excellence and long-term success in todays business world? The philosophers of the centuries, from Plato and Aristotle to the present day, have left us a huge store of wisdom that we can draw on for a wealth of insight applicable both to business and to the rest of life. If we let the great philosophers guide our thinking, we put ourselves in the very best position to move toward genuine excellence, true prosperity and deeply satisfying success in our businesses, families and lives. This is not a book specifically about General Motors. The thoughts apply to any business concerned with issues such as productivity, competitiveness and success. The name General Motors is used in the title as emblematic of any group of people working together. And the ideas offered draw on other philosophers besides Aristotle. The title, of course, will remind some readers of the notorious statement by Charles Erwin Wilson, former president of GM and later secretary of defense under Eisenhower: What is good for the country is good for General Motors, and what is good for General Motors is good for the country.

There are some basic truths, discernible by philosophical reflection, that underlie any sort of human excellence, whether in a company like General Motors or in the country at large. Theyre good for the country, General Motors and any human organization.

The Four Dimensions of Human Experience

There are four basic dimensions to all human experience, across all world cultures and throughout history. Theyre as important now as they have ever been. They are the keys to individual happiness at work as well as to sustainable corporate excellence. Yet they have only recently come to be understood and appreciated for their true significance in modern business. Each of the dimensions leads to a goal that itself is a foundation for enduring human fulfillment. They are: The intellectual dimension, which aims at truth. The esthetic dimension, which aims at beauty. The moral dimension, which aims at goodness. The spiritual dimension, which aims at unity. These four dimensions structure all of human life. They offer four timeless virtues, or strengths, for the soul of any productive endeavor with other people, and thus four foundations for sustainable human excellence. We neglect them at our peril.

Buy the Full Book!

www.amazon.com www.bn.com www.chapters.ca
2003 execubooks inc.

www.execubooks.com

If Aristotle Ran General Motors

By Tom Morris

Truth
The first universal dimension of human experience is the intellectual dimension, the aspect of our nature that aims at truth. Truth is our lifeline. Nobody can navigate well though life without an accurate map by which to steer. In a recent book in which he profiled three top corporate CEOs, Tom Peters pointed to 11 traits that seem responsible for their success. One of those 11 qualities, he said, is that these individuals appear to have a visceral affinity for truth. The capacity to handle truth the ability to get at it and the skill to use it well brings great power. We arent likely to be expert at exercising that capacity, however, unless we place a certain value on the people around us. In his book, I and Thou, Martin Buber, an influential theologian who lived from 1875 to 1965, explained that there are two fundamental relationships that can exist between you and another individual entity in the world. First there is the I-It relation. That is a way of relating to something as a thing or object whose only value is extrinsic, or instrumental. When you stand in the I-It relation to something, you value it only insofar as it serves your purposes. The second basic relationship is the I-Thou: a relationship of respect in which the other individual is viewed as having intrinsic value, in and of himself or herself, regardless of whether that individual can produce any further value for you. Buber held that one human being should never treat another person as only a means to an extrinsic end but primarily and always as an end in himself. We should never use people in the same way that we use objects. The powerful point is this: when we dont create an environment in which truth is respected, we do not have a working environment in which people are respected. The only way to enter a truly I-Thou relationship with those around us is to seek from them, and give to them, the truth about what were doing together. That is the only way to treat co-workers, suppliers and customers.

watching the sun shimmering on the waves? Fishing in a river, shaded by deep trees? Or perhaps just sitting at a beautifully set table? Why are executive retreats usually held in locations of tremendous beauty? The answer is that beauty liberates. It refreshes, restores and inspires. Beauty plays a role that cant be duplicated by anything else in its impact on the human spirit, freeing our greatest energies, liberating our deepest insights and connecting with our highest affection. Richard Sempler understands this. When the company he heads, Semtec in Brazil, needed a new factory, he let his employees select the facility they would prefer to work in from a number of suitable sites that he had found. They chose one and then asked if a wellknown Brazilian artist could paint the new plant, including the machinery. He agreed, and in a short time saw productivity rise quite impressively. He understood the deep connections between empowerment, esthetics, job satisfaction and overall performance.

Goodness
Most references to ethics in business books are humorous or negative. A favorite is Mae Wests famous remark that whenever she was forced to choose between two evils she chose the one she had never tried before. Another is Woody Allens view that good people seem to sleep better at night but bad people seem to enjoy their waking hours more. The reason so many quotations about morality or ethics are negative is that people misunderstand what ethics is all about. They assume its about restriction and constraint, about not being allowed to do what we might otherwise enjoy doing, perhaps because of social control or to avoid offending the sanctimonious among us. But goodness is the soil from within which the soul can grow and flourish. Without it, human beings wither and harden and spiritually die. Goodness is a necessary condition for healthy relationships and a thriving community. Morality is not about deprivation, denial and artificial constraint. It is about living as well as human beings are capable of living.

Beauty
It may be fairly evident on the face of it why truth, goodness and unity are relevant to corporate spirit and business excellence. But beauty seems out of place. Think, however, about when you feel most relaxed, peaceful, refreshed, reinvigorated and even inspired. Is it on the golf course early in the morning? At the ocean,

Unity
The fourth universal dimension of human experience is the spiritual dimension, the aspect of our nature that strives for unity or ultimate connectedness. Spiritual

www.execubooks.com

If Aristotle Ran General Motors

By Tom Morris

unity, of course, may be the last thing that comes to mind when most businesspeople think and talk about strengthening their companies. As Socrates said, it seems that the least important things are those we think and talk about the most, and the most important are those we think and talk about the least. Its essential to think and talk about the spiritual dimension of work. Every human being has four spiritual needs that must be respected and nurtured every day. Its not enough for us to take care of those needs just at home, at church or synagogue, or in private meditation or personal prayer. Our spiritual needs must be met in the work we do, or that work will be like a trek in the desert, exhausting rather than fulfilling. The four universal spiritual needs are: Uniqueness as individuals. We all need to feel unique, special, different in a positive way, and we all need to feel that difference is recognized and affirmed. Union with something greater than the self. We all must feel that we belong. Western philosophy tends to push uniqueness too far in the direction of individual autonomy and self-centeredness, while Eastern philosophy tends to push union too far toward total absorption into a great entity. We need to keep those two needs in dynamic harmony. Usefulness to others. Deep down, we all need to feel were making a contribution. A useless life is an early death, wrote Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Understanding about our lives and work. Many people feel lost in their lives and work. We all need to understand our work and our place in the world.

Conclusion
Corporate excellence is a form of human excellence. Its produced by people who believe in what theyre doing. Its sustained by people who are supported in what theyre doing by a culture that respects and nurtures all four fundamental dimensions of their genuinely human experience: the intellectual, esthetic, moral and spiritual dimensions. Organizational success and inner personal satisfaction require significant doses of truth, beauty, goodness and unity. If Aristotle ran General Motors, he would ensure their role in the corporate culture. e ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tom Morris was a professor of philosophy for 15 years at Notre Dame and is now a motivational speaker.

Related Reading
In Search of Excellence: Lessons From Americas BestRun Companies, by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, Warner Books, 1988, ISBN 0446385077. Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee, Harvard Business School Press, 2002, ISBN 157851486X. The Quest for Authentic Power: Getting Past Manipulation, Control and Self-Limiting Beliefs, by G. Ross Lawford, Berrett-Koehler, 2002, ISBN 1576751473.

www.execubooks.com