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Betterness: Economics for Humans

Umair Haque

4.05 · Rating details · 295 ratings · 34 reviews

Betterness: Economics for Humans is a powerful call to arms for a post-capitalist economy. Umair Haque argues that just as positive psychology revolutionized our understanding of mental health by recasting the field as more than just treating mental illness, we need to rethink our economic paradigm. Why? Because business as we know it has reached a state of diminishing ret

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ebook, 64 pages

Published (first published December 15th 2011)

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Jan 02, 2012 Dave Lefevre rated it it was amazing

Shelves: political, economics

Around 2006 or so, while idiot pundits were on CNBC and CNN declaring how great the economy was while my personal economics and economics of my community were on a steady decline, I started to believe that if our economic indicators show we are doing well then certainly those indicators have to be broken. Now as we enter a period of history where 50% of the U.S. population are low income or in poverty while our national prognosticators say the economy is not in a recession we are at that point o Around 2006 or so, while idiot pundits were on CNBC and CNN declaring how great the economy was while my personal economics and economics of my community were on a steady decline, I started to believe that if our economic indicators show we are doing well then certainly those indicators have to be broken. Now as we enter a period of history where 50% of the U.S. population are low income or in poverty while our national prognosticators say the economy is not in a recession we are at that point once again.

In this short "Kindle Single" piece author Umair Haque takes that idea well beyond this simple idea I happened to have while watching talking heads. Today we value our economy purely in terms of money (profit and stock price). What if we valued our national economy and corporations not only in terms of financial capital, but also in terms of *other* types of important capital? There are other types of capitol that are important to our world, like how educated our society is, how well we are employing our human abilities as a country (jobs), health, national resources. You can make your own list of this "higher order" capitol. Today's economists, politicians, and high-order businessmen only think in terms of GDP and profit.

This seems to be right at the crux of why so many of us are angry about the status quo of our corporate systems (especially groups like OWS). Wall Street companies might be making money hand over fist and their books might look great, but if you evaluated them in terms of these types of higher order capitol what would you see? Despite the constant drumbeat that they are the "productive ones," you'd see how all they rapidly deplete these other types of capitol that are important to humans. They may be making money, but they are depleting our society and world. Even as they make money they can be seen as a net drain to our overall human economy.

This little work is amazing and it is certain to be seen by many as blasphemy, but as we sit here it's becoming obvious that our economic structure where the dollar made is the only economic evaluation we have is not working for even a majority of the American population. We've greatly suffered over the last 20-30 years because we have not invested in other types of capitol, like our education as a people, basic infrastructure, etc. The ideas in this book make sense and I hope we can follow some of these ideas and start to move away from the idea that profit should be the only important motivator in our country's businesses. ...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Brandon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sociology, business-economics, favorites

This ebook was a fascinating read, full of hope for a new paradigm of human transaction beyond that of soul-sucking, cut-throat, competitive profit making (otherwise known as "business.") Haque asks tough questions of the status quo, such as, "Why is the generally accepted definition of prosperity the growth of industrial output, not the emotional, social, intellectual, physical, or ethical growth of humans?" He goes on to argue that "profit itself is an industrial-era conception of performance" This ebook was a fascinating read, full of hope for a new paradigm of human transaction beyond that of soul-sucking, cut-throat, competitive profit making (otherwise known as "business.") Haque asks tough questions of the status quo, such as, "Why is the generally accepted definition of prosperity the growth of industrial output, not the emotional, social, intellectual, physical, or ethical growth of humans?" He goes on to argue that "profit itself is an industrial-era conception of performance" and that America's economy is revving harder than ever, but dramatically losing horsepower. This is happening because "today's economy rewards people most for merely allocating existing capital. That's not a recipe for prosperity; it's simply a game of musical chairs."

Once in a while, Haque breaks up the intensity with witty passages such as this: "Call me crazy, but prosperity doesn't merely mean spectacular achievements like plastic razors with yet more blades and mystery-meat burgers with an extra patty or three." In the process he persuasively demonstrates that the short term financial gain that most companies aim for are tragically outdated and shortsighted.

Midway through the book, Haque argues that new rules for competition are already emerging. He convincingly demonstrates that companies that still operate from an old industrial-era paradigm are being outperformed by companies that have moved on from competitive advantage to GENERATIVE advantage, contributing to the Common Wealth of societies, rather than merely increasing profit margins and increasing value for share holders. "Destroying the Common Wealth is easy, abundant and cheap. . . Enhancing it, in contrast, is the scarcest, rarest, and single most disruptive capability an organization can possess."

He sums up the paradigm shift this way: "Going from business to betterness means going from vision, mission, strategy, and objectives to ambition, intention, constraints, and imperative."

He further reaches down to the ground level by name-dropping companies that are beginning to innovate and invest the Common Wealth of society (albeit imperfectly) such as Apple, Google, Nike, Pixar, WalMart, and Whole Foods. The exercise in contrasting the nauseating "vision" statements of Polo Ralph Lauren, McDonalds, and Microsoft with the AMBITION statements of Nike, Lululemon Athletica, and Google is a hilarious, but thrilling testimony to the fact that much of what he is saying is already in motion. By the time he gets to this statement, the reader is already convinced: "financial capital is the least valuable, enduring, and meaningful kind of capital."

In the end, I'd say Haque has launched (or at least introduced to amateurs like me) a fascinating discussion and proposed a theory that is currently being tested and needs to be further tested. I'm sure many will roll their eyes at these concepts and brush them off as idealistic pipe dreams - in much the same way that revolutionaries and history makers have been dismissed and scoffed at for centuries. The discussion has only just begun, but the hope that his vision inspires is worth whatever risk lies before us in the quantum leap. ...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Allie rated it really liked it

Haque's strength is an associative one. He draws connections between things we know and understand (and don't like) to economic things we're not quite sure about. His pictures clarify the blurry arguments of economic problems into ethical issues, which I love.

Some great quotes:

On our inability to demand a better economic system than what we currently have:
"Just like a patient on a nineteenth century couch, our regimen rests on a foundational belief: that, at its best, an economy is one that's no ...more

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Oct 05, 2015 Lee Broderick rated it really liked it

Shelves: columns-essays

It's increasingly clear that our current economic models are unfit for purpose. The reasons for this have probably been best articulated (in my own reading history) by Bob Brown in One Person, One Value: Penguin Specials . Essentially, it boils down to the fact that our current economic models (and, therefore also the measure by which we judge politicians) are based on exponential growth - growth in profit, which means growth in production and in demand to meet that production - which means g ...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Nathanael Coyne rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Nathanael by: Stephen Collins

Shelves: favourite

What an inspiring read! A vision for a post-capitalist future (as we know it) that doesn't shy away from the need for people and entities to earn money and profit. A new way of looking at economics and the world that we need to seriously look at. Changed my view, and in some ways pushed me over the edge of my wavering opinion on the ethics of business as we do it today. We need to step back from the edge of burning out our environment and our people and realise that we can both earn money and be ...more

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Dec 29, 2013 J rated it liked it

This is a "Kindle Single" and it read more like a rough draft than a polished manuscript. At times it was quite rambling! There are lots of interesting and exciting ideas here, but they are covered at a high level and needed to be fleshed out with more examples. The second to last chapter was better in this regard. I am a big fan of Haque, though, and look forward to reading his other book, "The New Capitalist Manifesto." ...more

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Jun 16, 2014 Erika RS rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned

This is an inspiring manifesto[1] on how to move from "business" to "betterness". The core point is that business as usually seems to be stagnating. Capitalism as it's been practiced up to now can be seen as a system whose strength is in solving the ills of previous systems -- such as guilds with monopolies over production and employment. However, it doesn't go beyond that in providing the best set of tools to help people live satisfying lives.

For that, Haque argues, we need to move from busines ...more

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Jul 22, 2014 Andrea James rated it liked it

Shelves: decision-making, business

I liked the book because I agreed with its central premise of striving for (and delivering) better, doing what we can to add real value to the world rather than mindlessly pursuing more money, more goods and just more of everything.

It's unfortunately more of an unedited ramble than the concise book (it's very short) that I was hoping to read. Though that it is not to say that it was by any means bad writing. The author has a fluid style and his words just soak into one's mind. He is opinionated ...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Pierre rated it it was amazing

I am a regular consumer of Umair's writings and interviews. This book, or what might aptly be called a treatise, shows his emergence as a leading 21st Century thinker and communicator. Summing it up in three words I'd call this work pithy, empowering, and advancing. Linking his description of a new paradigm in economic and business practice theory to the late 20th Century expansion of psychology into the realm of positive psychology is nothing short of brilliant.
On a broader note, I couldn't he ...more

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Dec 23, 2011 Stephen Collins rated it it was amazing

Shelves: better-business, brain-food, business-culture-reading-list

For such a short read, Umair Haque's second book offers up more of this profound thinker's forward-looking ideas on reimagining the way we do business. Not an anti-business screed, Haque is perfectly happy for us all t make money. But what else is there? Where is the real, tangible, actual good for humanity in the way we do things.

Haque's vision of changed business will make me sit down and articulate how my business behaves in a world where we conduct "betterness" instead. So too, to evaluate w ...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Nic Brisbourne rated it it was amazing

I love a paradigm shift and Umair delivers in spades here.

He starts with an analogy between economics and psychology. Up until the turn of the last century psychology had been entirely concerned with curing mental illness, but the work of Havard professor William James turned the discipline on its head by adding the dimension of positive psychology. He shifted the question from ‘how do we fix people with problems?’ to ‘how do we help people realise their full potential?’. Perhaps economic and bu I love a paradigm shift and Umair delivers in spades here.

He starts with an analogy between economics and psychology. Up until the turn of the last century psychology had been entirely concerned with curing mental illness, but the work of Havard professor William James turned the discipline on its head by adding the dimension of positive psychology. He shifted the question from ‘how do we fix people with problems?’ to ‘how do we help people realise their full potential?’. Perhaps economic and business theorists have spent the 250 years since the industrial revolution looking to solve problems of business like corruption, trade barriers, and efficiency and we are now at a ‘William James’ moment where the questions addressed can broaden beyond shareholder value to include sustainability and the welfare of other employees, customers and other constituencies. The idea is that business should become more authentic, durable, and fulfilling for employees, rather than the distrusted mess that it is today.

In other words companies should pursue betterness, not just business. That means:
- reframing the purpose of business and the economy generally from the growth of output (GDP) to the growth to people (quotes Robert F Kennedy saying "Gross National Product measures everything ... except that which makes life worthwhile"
- growth of people means pursuing life that is authentically, meaningfully, rich - rich with relationships, ideas, emotion, health, vigor, recognition, contribution, passion, fullfilment, accomplishment and even great achievement
- general recognition that an economy and/or wealth are not ends in their own right but only means to an end of having a good life
- companies should have ambitions, intentions and imperatives rather than missions, visions and objectives - the difference being that they are now concerned with how they make the lives of their customers (or other constituents) better - how they help them grow, rather than focused on themselves and/or their competitors. Ambitions, intentions and imperatives should make sense outside of the boardroom and be timeless - e.g. make sportswear to help people live happier and more healthy lives. They explain why the company is in business.

GDP measures activity but not the quality of that activity or whether it is worthwhile

The big question in my mind as I finish writing this review, is why now? and it's variant, is it really happening now?

The best answers I have are:
- that the old paradigm of shareholder value only stopped delivering ten years ago,
- that discontent with current system is growing - largely focused on growing wealth inequality and income and opportunity stagnation for the masses
- that analysts have only recentlh begun to positively rate companies with good CSR initiatives, and
- governments around the world are starting to think about measuring happiness as well as GDP ...more

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Mar 18, 2014 Russ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: business

I rate this book highly because it will make the reader think, not because I agree with the author.

A good book to get a group of younger people to stop and think about the relationship between companies and the rest of society. Also, would get them to stop and think about the purpose of a company in the first place.

My take: "betterness" as a substitute for business seems like a nice vision BUT human nature, not corporations is what needs to change to permit it to happen. I believe corporations I rate this book highly because it will make the reader think, not because I agree with the author.

A good book to get a group of younger people to stop and think about the relationship between companies and the rest of society. Also, would get them to stop and think about the purpose of a company in the first place.

My take: "betterness" as a substitute for business seems like a nice vision BUT human nature, not corporations is what needs to change to permit it to happen. I believe corporations will only change if people do--I don't see people changing that quickly.

Of course it would be great if people did change to realize the author's vision, then, yes, along the way, some government statistics like GDP, would need to evolve, but blaming the way GDP is currently calculated is like saying the tail wags the dog. His "what gets measured gets managed" argument about GDP was not compelling.

One area I strongly agreed was that empowering people would improve happiness and productivity, this strongly overlaps with Lean Manufacturing techniques--the author is right about that--less of the Henry Ford mass production, paternalistic mindset would go along way to having happier workers.

The author lost me when he used Whole Foods, Apple, and Walmart as an example--I don't see them as significantly different from other corporations--just having good intentions is not enough. I wanted better examples.

Good intentions alone don't help--still requires good management (competence, experience, integrity, resolve...all of that)--that will never change or be overshadowed by stated intentions to help people and do no evil (actions, not words or intentions count).

Many people already work for companies whose focus is to directly help people in their day to day needs, and despite the direct connection to doing good, many of these workers still feel frustrated. I know from my sister, a nurse, that this is true. Where would one hope to find better intentions to help people than at a hospital? Yet unless the hospital is managed well, the workers will be frustrated--probably more frustrated in the face of mismanagement, because they will see direct human suffering and even death if there is mismanagement.

The author almost seems to work from a premise that most corporations have unstated objectives to do evil. Frankly, I'm more critical of corporations that claim they will do no evil.

Again, I think it is a good book for young people to read and discuss, especially those who want to lead a corporation.
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Jul 02, 2012 Larry rated it it was amazing

Shelves: business-culture

Betterness: Economics for Humans (Kindle Single) (Kindle Edition)

One LGA to ORD flight later I am still percolating on what this truly means. There is so much 'humanness' built into 6 short chapters I find myself more than a bit in awe. To discuss in such a tight set of concepts what may be 'not right' about our current pursuit of often purely financial metrics for business when in fact a notion of Common Wealth is a far more rational thing to consider is quite a feat.

The current state of 'busin ...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Createpei rated it really liked it

Shelves: economics

Short and sweet.

The way business should be thought of; one can only hope that it is the start of next phase, however, as Umair states this "new thinking" represents a paradigm shift from the way we currently view markets.

When one considers the historical perspectives, though, it is more likely a return to a pre-industrialized / pre-stockmarketized time. What I was struck with when reading the book is how self-centered/focused we have become as a society. When we were involved in building our na ...more

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Jan 02, 2015 Ivan rated it liked it

Shelves: economics, business

It started a little bit "slow", but by the end it had definitely caught my attention.

Although I really liked the overall idea, I started the book a bit skeptical. The (maybe unnecessary) use of uncommon or plainly made up words also added to my initial discomfort. Perhaps this is another good idea that just won't work because it isn't practical, I thought. Now, I think I was wrong!

As the book develops, things start to add up and make sense. The author argues that some of the changes are already ...more

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Dec 17, 2013 Chris Johnson rated it really liked it

Shelves: q1-2014, econ

Another simple- maybe simplistic - econ book.

The gist is this: we don't benefit from making MORE hot pockets, cheap consumer electronics, etc. That doesn't create a yield.

We benefit by having what umair calls what arete. A greek virtue, a behavior that seeds eudamonia. We seek "why am I here" rather than succumbing to the TV-industrial complex.

This is a great book to recommend to someone that doesn't read a ton, knows something is off with the economy/life and is a (to a degree) simpler version ...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Michel rated it liked it

This book contains some interesting thoughts about the fact that measuring cash profit is probably not the best metric that should guide business and governmental decisions. One can easily find oneself in a "zero sum game" in which for profits to go somewhere, they have to get out of somewhere else, so you end up having just winners and losers, but not actual growth in the society.

While I think there is a lot of truth to it, I probably was hoping for a more structured treatise on the subject. Th ...more

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Jan 24, 2012 Xavier Shay rated it really liked it

Really strong rhetoric, likening business as we know it to traditional psychology (curing sick people), and suggesting the term "Betterness" to be the parallel to positive psychology. Further, that business has stagnated (ref: first decade of 2000s) and companies that are winning now are already embracing Betterness (Whole Foods, Walmart, Pixar, etc...).

I always find Haque inspiring. It's a short book, but probably could have been condensed into a long blog post. He does provide some good langua ...more

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Feb 05, 2014 Peter Lougee rated it really liked it

At times repetitive with its metaphors, Haque's thesis is no less salient: that we need to reject business-as-usual if our society is ever going to produce actual Common Wealth. Reading more like philosophy than economic theory, Haque's view of how businesses should adapt for the 21st century likely remains prescient. The challenge remains how to convince business to adapt itself to what Haque calls Betterness, given the entrenchment of bottom-line profit seeking in corporate culture. Although t ...more

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Oct 20, 2014 Ana Ulin rated it really liked it

The main message of the book is quite simple: we need to re-focus our businesses on improving wellbeing of all their constituents, instead of focusing on monetary profits. Unfortunately, Haque does not seem to have much in the way of practical advice as to how to make the change of focus happen.

What I did enjoy were the practical suggestions for re-framing the classical corporate vision/mission/values as ambition, intention, constraints and imperatives. He includes practical questions to ask you ...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Roy Kenagy marked it as to-read

e-book single from @umairh, "Betterness: Economics for Humans" released Monday http://bitly.com/s03kCH ~My first Kindle download

""Betterness: Economics for Humans" is a powerful call to arms for a post-capitalist economy. Umair Haque argues that just as positive psychology revolutionized our understanding of mental health by recasting the field as more than just treating mental illness, we need to rethink our economic paradigm." ...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Chris Davis rated it really liked it

No more dry business as usual. Hague points out the profound lack of vision that our out-dated, industrial aged economic paradigm has and how we do a whole lot of work without much creation of the kinds of capital that can do humanity any real good. In the future, business success will be measured by the real good the business can do and have little to do with returns for the shareholders. Sound like heresy? It is, the good kind.

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Mar 12, 2012 Jack Vinson rated it really liked it

Very interesting ideas represented here, and as I read this book, I kept hearing repeated themes elsewhere. Essentially: businesses must deliver more than just money. They have to add to the common-wealth - to make the world better. Thus the name of the book.

Blogged with several other books: https://www.jackvinson.com/blog/2012/... ...more

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Jan 25, 2012 Emily Leathers marked it as to-read

Shelves: non-fiction, read-preview, economics, kindle, better-world, psychology

(Disclaimer: this rating is based on reading only the kindle sample.)

The concept seems interesting but the execution is boring. I probably won't bother to read the rest unless I stumble upon a lot of extra time (which is unlikely). ...more

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Oct 08, 2016 Jennifer Phillips rated it it was amazing

Shelves: summer-reading-2016

The concept of betternes isn't brand new, but it is radical. And, even if I quibble here and there with Haque's case analysis, I genuinely appreciate this attempt to translate betterness for practicioners, complete with concrete recommendations and examples. ...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Daniel Temme rated it really liked it

Not a perfect book but full of important ideas. Hopefully we'll come to see some of those becoming a reality. ...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Jack rated it it was amazing

Read this. It will change you.

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Jul 07, 2012 Kristian Norling rated it it was amazing

Read! Brilliant. Enough said.

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Apr 21, 2013 Kevin Miller marked it as to-read

Umair wrote a post on "Reason" that was by far one of the best things I've ever read. Resonated with me to the nth degree.

WHY ...more

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Jul 21, 2013 Satinder Hawkins rated it really liked it

A clearly articulated vision of how to shift economic paradigms to reflect the needs of the modern world.

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About Umair Haque

Umair Haque

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Umair Haque is Director of the Havas Media Lab and author of The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business. He also founded Bubblegeneration, an agenda-setting advisory boutique that shaped strategies across media and consumer industries.

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“The work that business offers just isn’t fulfilling, so instead of being motivated to innovate, reinvent, reimagine, and outperform, most of us are dully uninspired, dispirited, frustrated, suffocated, and downright stymied.” — 2 likes

“I have called it a Great Splintering, not purely an economic phenomenon, but a social one: an era where social contracts are being torn up, abrogated, betrayed, abandoned, by accident, by design, by "regulatory capture," or simply by polities too gridlocked to progress.” — 1 likes

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