If you thought business was only about accounting and organization charts, the good news is that it's actually an art form and an adventure, as we learn in Tom Veblen's new book, The Way of Business. Veblen identifies the instinct of workmanship -- the urge to 'make things work right around here' -- as the source of the effort to improve business practice. It animates the discovery of new opportunities, the selection of which ones to pursue, and the orchestration of group effort. He sees the business firm as an organic being, constantly evolving, experimenting, and risking its life.
In this struggle for survival, Veblen has distilled from his and others' experience some useful maxims, like 'Do the next best thing'. In other words, among all the confusing options available, focus on the task at hand, the next step in the sequence. Don't worry if it isn't perfect if 'next-best' does the job just as well. And keep experimenting, because business, like art, is a work-in-progress. It is also, like art, beyond rational thought: After all the analytical tools have been applied, both common sense and animal energy are required to prosper. Hence there is no substitute for 'pressing on', another of Veblen's maxims. Sheer persistence, even (or especially) in the face of overwhelming odds, wins out over conceptual elegance or unrealized potential.
As important as the goal may be, whatever it is -- serving the customer, creating wealth, staying profitable -- The Way of Business tells us that endeavor itself has over-arching value. 'If it is true that we must know a thing for it to exist', Veblen writes, 'then it must be true that there is neither beginning nor end for human life, for we know not our own beginning or end... [and] if there are no beginnings or middles or ends, then there is only being and becoming -- endeavoring. Nothing more. Nothing less.' Like all of Veblen's writing, this has the touch of both common sense and philosophical depth. Why concentrate exclusively on a long-deferred moment of achievement when we can enjoy the infinitude of present moments? The endeavor itself, risky and trying though it may be, pays its own way.
There's much more in this fine 108-page book, including a cover from the Stones of Koshigoe triptych. The narrative is spiced with the surprising histories of some firms not much in the news, like the Hudson's Bay Company, Cargill, and others, which have proved resilient over the years. There's much practical wisdom between the book's covers for business practitioners, artists, and all who seek their own Way.
You can order The Way of Business here, or from Amazon, or from The Superior Business Firm Roundtable, 2806 36th Place, Washington DC, NW 20007-1417, USA. Please ask about volume discounts for your firm, school, book club, or in case you just want to distribute them to friends and associates.
Viewers who purchase the original gravure print shown on the cover of The Way of Business, or any or all of the three panels of the Stones of Koshigoe triptych, will receive a 100% refund of the purchase price of the book. Simply complete the purchase transaction on-line here, and the print(s), book, and book price refund will be sent to you.
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