Doing Well By Doing Good

If you searched Google right now for "spirituality in business" you might think it has become the hot topic. However, the now popular mantra, doing well by doing good, is at least 200 years old. Capitalist business theorists and practitioners have been thinking about spirit for at least that long.

Its antecedents go back to the 18th century and Adam Smith, a moral philosopher who wrote about the ethics of economics (The Wealth of Nations published in 1776, but more importantly, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, published in 1759). Smith's Invisible Hand is a close cousin of the conscience in that enlightened self-interest drives the marketplace as we seek to maximize individual return but only while being mindful of the interconnectedness of others in that market.

We see business ethics in the news again in the 1970s when the Corporate Social Responsibility movement was in full flower. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defined corporate social responsibility as:

the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.

Here, advocates were not interested in doing right for its intrinsic value to the soul. Doing good leads to doing well. (For more on the movement, see Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative web page http://bit.ly/Zf77).

As companies pursued the concept of corporate social responsibility, it became obvious to some that a corporation is like an individual in that it is a citizen and therefore woven into the fabric of community life at both neighborhood and national levels. Implementing the notion of corporate citizenship has become increasingly sophisticated in the last 30 years to the point of moving out of the executive suite and into the workhorse of any business, its marketing department.

Cause-related marketing is defined as promoting a link between commercial and nonprofit businesses to the benefit of both. Historians point to American Express in the early 1980s as the strategy's progenitor. The Company nearly doubled its number of cardholders and increased overall card usage by almost a third by promising to donate a penny to the Statue of Liberty restoration project every time a cardholder made a purchase. This is a direct causal connection from doing good (restoring Lady Liberty) to doing well (100% market share increase at the cost of a cent per transaction).

Next: the spiritual element of marketing strategy

When Everything Qualifies as a Miracle

Everything qualifies as a miracle. I hear people say babies, sunsets and mountains are all miracles, or at least the healthy, happy, good ones. I also hear people say it will take a miracle for some relatively mundane event to happen in their lives like, "it will be a miracle if there is no line at the post office". A jaded person would think the power of the miracle is lessened when everything is one.

We say these things because, as a species, we are constantly seeking approval. We are like whales swimming around with our mouths open and feeding on plankton trying to sustain ourselves on a high volume of bits of approval. We look for approval from parents, spouses, bosses, colleagues, friends, neighbors, even fellow worshipers. This behavior takes on all forms. "Am I doing OK?" "Are you mad at me?" "Will it ever be alright?"

And so it is with our relationship with God. We constantly seek God's approval and reassurance of worth through the show of miracles which we see as approval granting attention from the Almighty. Of course we see miracles everywhere.

What about the shoes for Lucian? Was it a miracle like a sunset or a traffic-free commute to work? Notwithstanding the jaded position, I believe it is on the same order as the feeding of the 5,000.

The feeding miracle shares a distinction with the resurrection in that it is the only other miracle reported by the four canonical gospel authors. Something about this miracle struck the disciples as being memorable, even more memorable than raising Lazarus from the dead.

Late in the evening, near dinnertime, a crowd of seekers assembled to hear the teacher. The disciples were worried about feeding such a large crowd and they asked Jesus what they should do about it. Three of the authors reported an unexpected divine answer: feed them yourself.

From the disciples' vantage point, they saw a magical moment. Jesus asked for God's blessing and somehow, a woefully inadequate amount of food became enough to feed thousands of hungry people. And the miracle did not end there. There was more than enough for the disciples to eat. In fact, after everyone ate, there was more food left over then the initial collection of a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.

From a different vantage point, what if Jesus' blessing and prayer was not for some magic of sleight of hand but for the magic of a compassionate and loving heart. What if the first person in line to receive the basket of meager means knew there was not enough food for everyone and thought of others over self. It was after all late in the day and prudent people would have brought a bite or two with them. With hearts now opened by Jesus' prayer, people contributed what they had for the common weal and ate from the community's store only if they were totally unprepared. Such behavior among 5,000 people could have gone virtually unnoticed and the result would have appeared to the disciples as truly miraculous. Indeed it was.

The shoe miracle follows the same pattern. When I agreed to find 200 pairs of shoes for Lucian's children, I asked God just how I was going to do it (having no idea myself). That was my only prayer. From that point forward, God delivered people to me who took care of the rest. From casual conversations with a few people, I got the shoes, labor to clean and package them, and transportation to Romania without spending a cent.

At the time I asked God how this was going to get done, I remember hearing an answer which I quickly dismissed because it was not what I expected to hear: do it yourself.


Next: Doing Well by Doing Good

Shoes for Lucian

Without having lived in a police state, it is difficult to understand how fear can rule a people long after the source of fear has been removed. Under the former regime, informers and the secret police watched everyone everywhere and reported everything. Public life was owned by the state. When ServingHIM briefed us for the trip ahead, they told us that while the secret police had been disbanded, it was still considered rude to draw attention to yourself in public. This cultural norm is a vestige of the days when the collateral damage from prying eyes now focused on your public display could put someone near you in prison.

Given this reticence for the attention of authorities, imagine Lucian's concern when Romanian customs officials informed him that he had to come to the port to claim a few packages. Here is his email:

I was so happy when I received the twenty boxes with shoes. I was also a little nervous at the customs, but everything turned all right. Many children will be happy and so their parents. I pray God will reward all the dedication, kindness and I especially want to send to all the people involved in this operation, our deepest thanks and I ask God to send upon them His blessings. I know you carried them with Mike's car. I believe Kevin was also involved. Please, send them my best wishes and send my regards also to Stephanie and many hugs from Stella.
May God bless you as only He knows how from His riches in Heaven!
In His Service,
Lucian and Stella

As I now reflect on this tale years later, I can see Jesus the Christ in the seams of it. By removing cultural, religious and xenophobic filters, and by looking with eyes wide open, I believe this story describes a miracle on par with the feeding of the 5,000.

Next: how the jaded and skeptical will view this miracle story.