Can Greed Really Be Good?

When our toy company decided to shift from distribution to manufacturing, we were stepping into the unknown. We understood how to sell and market products, but making them was entirely new territory for us. None of our team had manufacturing experience.

To address this gap, we hired a renowned leader for product development, someone known for creating exceptional toy products. After brainstorming several exciting concepts, we paired him up with the head of our agency in Hong Kong, and they began working on developing our product line roadmap. I was thrilled, confident that this was a natural evolution for our toy company, that would lead to a bigger and better future for our business.

Months of work culminated in a product line review. The presentation was impressive—our head of product development and our Hong Kong agent had made significant progress, building several exciting new prototypes that we were eager to showcase in the upcoming product previews. 

We provided some additional feedback and our product development head returned back to Hong Kong continuing to refine the product line.   However, shortly after his return, communication became sporadic. Initially, I assumed he was just hard at work, but the radio silence continued. 

Finally I received a message from him announcing that he had a change of heart and had decided to claim ownership over all the new product IP. He was going to partner with our Hong Kong agent and together they were going to pursue a different go-to-market strategy. He invited me to travel to Hong Kong to finalize the terms.

I was in shock. Two people I had trusted were unexpectedly betraying me. How did I not see this coming? Suddenly our product development future was at risk, so I immediately booked a flight to see if I could salvage the situation.

When I arrived, instead of meeting at the office, I was told to go to a lounge in a local hotel. As I waited they entered, one of them holding our company sign that had been prominently displayed on the door of our agent’s office. They threw it on the floor in front of me, announcing that neither would be working with us any longer. Despite the fact that we had funded the development, they believed that the product line that had been created as a result of their ideas and innovation.  As a result they believed the IP belonged to them and they had decided to partner up together and pursue what they thought was a better path. They had succumbed to greed.

The natural question that arises from this experience is: how did we end up hiring and working with people like this?  As I reflect back I can see I was young, foolish and inexperienced. My naivety had me focusing on the wrong character traits.  I was  focusing on hiring for aptitude rather than attitude. I was swayed by impressive resumes, only to find that these individuals, though talented, were also in fact untrustworthy. 

We’ve since developed robust screening and a proper selection process to prevent such mistakes from happening again.  However, beyond developing better systems, this incident illustrates the slippery slope that can occur when we are driven by unchecked egos, it can result in decisions that are motivated  by greed.

The 1987 movie Wall Street made famous the statement "Greed is Good.”  With these words the character Gordon Gekko promoted the idea that greed was at the heart of capitalism which in turn drove the overall economy.  Many  have come to accept this as the truth, that the GDP grows as a result of people looking to enrich themselves. But is greed really how we explain the motivation that drives a healthy economy?

Anyone who has taken courses on economics has grown up with the understanding that there are two primary economic systems: capitalism and socialism. Pure capitalism is frequently characterized as ruthless competition, where success is defined by how much wealth one can accumulate.

On the other hand, socialism aims to create an equal playing field, redistributing wealth to minimize disparities between rich and poor. Unfortunately we have over one hundred years of history that has demonstrated the destruction that results, when a society tries to wipe out personal incentives. 

While the capitalist system has its issues it is still the best system to drive innovation resulting in economic prosperity. However, I've come to learn that this binary choice between capitalism and socialism is short sighted. The problem with the “capitalism versus socialism” dichotomy is that they both focus on “greed” as the central component; one suggesting it’s the solution, the other, that it’s the problem.

In reality both systems are susceptible to the same human weakness—greed. Greed is not unique to capitalism or socialism; it is a human problem, driven by ego and the false belief that fulfillment comes from wealth, power and status, often at the expense of others.

In the Western world, we’re more familiar with the negative consequences of capitalism. We’ve seen how greed drives executives of corporations to underpay employees, cut corners and bend regulations, in their maniacal pursuit to accumulate wealth. The underlying belief is: "If I have more (or more than the other guys) then I’ll be happy." 

The truth is that this belief is flawed—having more while providing temporary satisfaction is followed by the disappointment of finding this resulting happiness to be fickle and fleeting. It turns out that Mick Jagger had it wrong. It is not that we can’t get no satisfaction; it is that we just can’t keep it. 

Temporary Satisfaction is the result of accomplishing hard things. Whether completing a difficult workout at the gym or finalizing an important new dea at work.  The problem is that the feeling of satisfaction we achieve fades fast, leaving us longing for more. If left unchecked the pursuit of more leads to something akin to a drug addiction; where driven by the desire to achieve the "same high" as the original dose, it results in an obsession to excessively accumulate more for more's sake.

Given the shortcomings of both capitalism and socialism, I propose that there is a third option: the free market economy. Unlike pure capitalism, which often prioritizes accumulation, and unlike socialism, which never achieved true equality, a free market economy focuses on creating more freedom and empowerment. 

The idea of a free market philosophy starts with imagining and creating products and services that in turn build value. The free market operates on the principle of abundance, not scarcity. Capitalism embraces a zero-sum mindset; for me to win, someone else must lose. In a free market, the pie can grow infinitely bigger, benefiting everyone. 

Capitalism motivated by greed focuses on using people to acquire things; while free market entrepreneurs prioritize using things to help build value for people. True free-market thinkers don’t hoard wealth; they generate and share it through creativity and collaboration and as a result they often become wealthy. But not as a goal but rather as a by-product of their efforts. 

When done right, as the phrase suggests, a “free market” economy promotes more freedom. Unfettered opportunities to pursue ideas, to create, to explore and to propagate optionality for others. 

Conversely, selfish capitalism that adheres to the idea that "greed is good" results in hollow gains. History has proven this repeatedly with some of the wealthiest people in history confessing to feeling a lack of satisfaction and meaning after a lifetime of accumulating fortunes. In the words of John D. Rockefeller, one of the wealthiest men to ever live:, "I know of nothing more despicable and pathetic than a man who devotes all the hours of his waking day to the making of money for money’s sake." The greedy pursuit of more, is much like drinking salt water to satisfy your thirst, resulting in an unquenchable desire for more.

If we are truly seeking fulfillment as we pursue our life and business endeavors, greed cannot be the answer. To create more meaning, greater impact, and deeper connections, then we must embrace the ideals around a free-market philosophy. The key is to become others-focused—obsessing over who you are uniquely positioned to serve and how you can continue to deliver them more value. 

This free-market philosophy of selfless giving is an essential component of what we believe it means to live life to the full and as a result to build wealth beyond money!

As you reflect, ask yourself:

• Regarding where you invest your time: Is your work focused on personal accumulation or on building value for others?
• In a world increasingly driven by scarcity and competition, how can you lead by championing abundance, collaboration, and shared success?