Value Proposition
When Value matters more than Profit
Value - the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. Profit - the financial gain made in a business transaction. These are two separate and distinctly different concepts.
Understanding when to prioritize one over the other and how they coexist in our society is an important and worthwhile conversation. It appears these two concepts have become a bit confused and blended recently.
Consider things we value: stable families, clean air and water, human dignity, personal freedom, health, an educated public, basic needs and a reasonable standard of living, a common understanding of the rules, welcoming public spaces and safety in those spaces.
A healthy community is built on trust, fairness, opportunity, and shared prosperity, NOT profitability. The KPIs and results of good work in building healthy communities are not new dollars earned. They are the degree by which we moved the needle toward a desired shared value or goal - the overall impact of the dollars spent.
A focus on value helps individuals and communities thrive. The operations that deliver this value are focused on generating societal impact for all - not a profit for a few.
Prioritizing value is not dismissing profit—it’s simply acknowledging that value is more important than profit in certain places. And, that in some places, profit is irrelevant. I would argue that both of these things - value and profit must coexist in the right balance in order to have a healthy, strong society that fosters thriving individuals and families.
Governments, for example, aren’t organizations that should make a profit—their role is to serve the public good. What happens when this focus changes? Well, take a look at the healthcare industry which has moved from patient-centered nonprofit care model to a profit-maximization model. Insurance companies, pharmaceutical giants, and hospital conglomerates now prioritize and realize huge financial gains.
Private equity firms owning a growing number of hospitals, nursing homes, and medical practices leads to cost-cutting, staff reductions, price hikes and greatly reduced access to quality healthcare for everyday people.
We could look at other examples such as student loans, education, and the current attempts to privatize social security.
Tension arises when profit is prioritized at the expense of value. There are many things we deeply value that don't (and shouldn’t) generate profit— these are all things that continue to be invaluable in shaping a thriving, just, and meaningful society.
