If Aristotle Ran General Motors : The New Soul of Business

by Tom Morris

The Barnes & Noble Review
October 1997

Some argue that the spirit has disappeared from our drastically downsized corporate America. But now that the market has taken an upward turn, the biggest corporations — which less than a decade ago expended huge percentages of personnel — are experiencing a resurgence as well and are hiring at an exorbitant rate. Despite their ruddy cheeks, however, such companies continue to suffer from symptoms of greed. In his new book, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Tom Morris shows corporate America how to focus on its most important aspect — its people — and create a culture that respects and nurtures them spiritually and emotionally.

If Aristotle ran General Motors, Morris hypothesizes, he would concentrate on happiness, satisfaction, meaning, and fulfillment rather than short-term cures like the reengineering of corporate structure. Morris presents a simple premise: A few basic yet powerful ideas drawn from the teachings of eminent philosophers of the past offer the key to building great morale, total job satisfaction, and productivity in any size business. "The newest problems we face can't be solved without the most ancient wisdom we have," Morris claims.

At the core of this provocative assertion are four fundamental aspects of human experience and their corresponding virtues. Morris explains how each of these principles, identified by Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago, is directly connected to interpersonal and business excellence. He explains why management techniques such as teamwork, reengineering, and intrapreneuring willneversucceed unless linked to such human attributes as love, appreciation, respect, trust, and sympathy.

Morris reveals how the enhancement of truth, the experience of beauty, the assurance of goodness, and the sense of unity felt by the people who work with you and around you can provide a wellspring for creating both an ethical corporate culture and inner personal satisfaction. Thought-provoking analysis and inspirational quotes combined with fascinating anecdotes from a variety of companies — from Tom's of Maine to General Electric — brings this powerful argument from the theoretical to the practical. Morris's optimistic vision for the future offers a realistic plan that will reinvigorate the corporate spirit and bring the soul back to our professional lives.

Genres: Business, Philosophy, Leadership, Nonfiction, Self Help, Entrepreneurship, Economics

Cassette

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

There is more than one author by this name. This profile contains various Tom's.

Reviews

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morris, Tom. If Aristotle Ran General Motors: The New Soul of Business. New York: Holt, 1997.

Greatness is rooted in simplicity. Former Notre Dame philosophy professor Thomas Morris takes the insights from philosophy and applies them to the business world.

Goal of the book: catch the wave of wisdom at work and create the right environment “for ultimate motivation in the workplace” (Morris 9).

Aristotle’s insight: everyone in life is chasing after happiness, however it is defined. Morris lists three basic views:
Pleasure; this is unrealistic, since most people in the workplace don’t experience one long, uninterrupted wave of pleasure.
Happiness as personal peace: this is a better view but it still runs short. We do not grow in a state of pure equilibrium.
Happiness as participation in something fulfilling. It is a joy of creating and participating.

The Four Dimensions of Human Experience

Intellectual (Truth)
Aesthetic (Beauty)
Moral (Goodness)
Spiritual (Unity)

Key Point: each dimension corresponds to a foundation of human excellence ().

Truth

“Truth is that mapping of reality that corresponds to the way things are” (25). Knowledge, obviously, is vital to business.

Truth implies, pace materialism, that men have minds. If men have minds, then we can’t organize the workplace in such a way to think they are mindless machines.

Knowledge might be power, but people draw the wrong inference. It is power, but this power only expands when knowledge is shared (36). When you benefit others, you benefit the network in which you are already embedded.

Beauty

Beauty might not seem relevant to the bottom line, but aesthetics is usually tied with job performance and satisfaction. In any case, the reverse is true. Soul-killing environments usually affect performance. Think of the Soviet Union. Or in a slightly more humane way, think of Ron Swanson’s office in Parks and Recreation. He has visitors sit in a chair in front of a mounted shotgun.

Beauty isn’t something as simplistic as “being pretty.” Rather, beauty provides the structure and soil for growth and flourishing. This leads to Aristotle’s observation that the polis (or business) is a collaboration or partnership for living well (103).

Goodness

Goodness and ethics are about creating strength for making proper decisions (120). If ethics were nothing but rules, we’d need infinitely more rules (145). Therefore, ethics needs virtue, or “that deep wellspring of ethical tendency that joins the wisdom to create in us….moral character” (151).

Morris then provides advice on how to create a social context in which virtue flourishes:
Moral mentors: Network with sages. You can’t just show a new employee the ropes. He might just hang himself. A good mentor cultivates good decision-makers.
The importance of small details: Take care in little things. Whenever you make a decision, you are always becoming.
Moral imagination: Cultivate a perceptive imagination. Great art (usually literature) sparks our “imaginative abilities to perceive the ethical implications of what we are doing” (167).

Unity

His final section on unity weaves the three transcendentals together.

Conclusion

This is one of those few books that communicate rare, spiritual power. It is the best book on applied ethics I have ever read.

[Johnnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a clear and concise book on how smart leaders run businesses. The practical application of ethics into everyday life was my favorite part, although Morris' many analogies and stories keep the reader engaged throughout the short read. The author weaves the ancient philosophy of Aristotle, The Bible, Confucius, and many ancient writings to show us that there is "nothing new under the sun" except maybe in our lack of applying wise principles in business.

[Neigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read a good chunk of it spread over most of the text, but DNF. I think the author poorly represents Aristotle and injects a lot of his own modern ideas while still using the old guy's name for clout. I don't think he says anything new or interesting, especially since I have read the primary source. Not worth my time as a student.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for many years - originally purchased when it was on the best sellers list, but never got around to reading it. Finally read and now I know why it was so highly recommended years ago. An amazing business book that is still relevant for the challenges facing the Soul of Businesses today.

[Jessica Palko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morris provides such great insight into how organizations should run. My biggest takeaway from this text is that if you take care of your people first, then the rest will come to you in the form of success.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone in marketing, sales, or just fascinated by psychology in business. Morris uses relatable examples to not just illustrate his theories but add tidbits of trivia to your reading experience.

[Carolyn Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good! Mixes sprirituality and common sense into business context; I learned about the importance of beauty and….

[Andrea]

I had to read it for school otherwise I don’t think I would have finished it.

[Gracie Bowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see you tom morris

[Diane Kalen-Sukra · Rating 5 out of 5]

If every CEO had read and absorbed this book when it was published in 1997, Wall Street would not have marched us off the cliff in 2008.

[David Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book that I've read by Tom Morris. I bought it at a local thrift shop that has a lot of used college course books. I read it in 2018 when I was interested in business strategy topics and wanted to see how Morris applied philosophy to modern business practices. Key points from the book:
-There is a difference between ethics and morals. Morals is doing the right thing; ethics is to be seen by others doing the right thing to create the perception of morality. Business leaders need to decide which one is more important based on their personal/institutional values. That choice can have significant impacts to bottoms lines, brands, and customer/employee loyalty.
-Philosophy is the "love of wisdom"...means keep learning as a lifelong passion for wisdom and truth.
-Our purpose is change and growth...can be positive or negative. Either way, it helps move individuals, businesses, or enterprises from a current state to a future state. Organizations need to embrace both positive and negative experiences as part of the growing processes.

[Nancy Schober · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute sweet little book. While I think it veers off into the abstract more than is helpful- more concrete examples would have been better illuminating, still a worth a gander to make sure one is on the right track. The material strikes a nice balance between Eastern values and Western thinking.[return][return]The external world will never move us toward nirvana. It might, on the contrary, drive us crazy. And we can't live happily with our nerves all ajangle. We need some calm. We need inner peace. We need some measure of personal tranquility or we'll never be able to deal well with all that the future may throw at us.[return][return]Unappreciated people feel little or no sense of loyalty or camaraderie toward those who are ignoring them, and very little responsibility.

[Matt McCormick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book as the author presented philosophy in a business context. As someone who tries to be aware of morality, there wasn't many new ways of thinking that I hadn't considered before.

I know it would be incredibly difficult to do, but I would rather have had more stories about where a company acted in a moral way and it paid off. I think a lot of us like to think that good people and actions will be rewarded later on, but is that actually the case? It would have been more interesting if the author had tried to disprove his theory. Perhaps find people or companies that act in very dishonest or immoral ways and spend some time with them to see if they are happy.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this was required reading for my MBA course in organizational behavior, I found this not only pertinent to business, but everyday life. Morris has some sage wisdom on how to find individual excellence, which will breed organizational excellence, which will in turn create societal harmony. Although it sounds new age, he uses the teachings of Aristotle and other sage philosophers to illustrate that if they were CEO's today, this is how things would get done.

[JB · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Mr. Morris is clearly a devote of the Latinized Aristotle that emerged as a result of Aquinas's integration of the Parapetetic school with Scholastic Christianity, this is still an excellent read. (even though his reading of Aristotle borders on libel) I think the author rightly focuses on the role of ethical virtue in business.

[MJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best "business" book I've ever read. Really a treatise on ethics and how philosophy really is relevant to running a business. It took me about 6 months to read because it isn't the type of book you sit down and read all at once. I highly recommend it to anyone in a corporate setting, especially if you play any sort of leadership role.

[Steve McCairns]

Insightful and thought provoking. Is thorough questioning of current (and past) business philosophy and indeed the approach we take to realtionships. A little like Stephen Covey and his habits the book suggests a 'win-win' versus the zero sum game. The tome is a decade old but maybe even more relevant now....

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I pretty much completely agree with Morris on his ideas about how business should run--by using principles of Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and Unity. But I felt that I didn't need a whole book on his ideas since in my case, he's preaching to the choir. An essay would have sufficed. However, it's very much a discussion-worthy book.

[Jordan Munn · Rating 3 out of 5]

In spite of it having good ideas, it also used a bunch of anecdotal evidence as support, instead of, like, actual support. So it was lazy as far as argumentation goes. But some decent nuggets nonetheless.

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's interesting but not as much of a "how-to" as I had hoped. Morris explores four elements in the context of good business as itemized by Aristotle and others: Intellectual (truth), aesthetic (beauty), moral (goodness), and spiritual (unity).

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on why morals and ethics are very important to creating a very successful business.

[Mnkparker]

If corporate America operated under the principles in this book, it would be a better world with a lot less stress.

[Staci · Rating 4 out of 5]

New takes on accepted ethics. Doesn't your workplace need to be aesthetically pleasing to encourage you to best productivity?

[Lori Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

An optional-read biograpy on leadership for knowledge workers, managers, directors, C-levels, and entrepreneurs.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book. A slow slog to read though. Full of so much, but written in a way that makes it somewhat hard to understand on the first reading.

[Richad Dzingai]

quite a beautiful piece, brings a whole new perspective of the art of business , the beauty of the workplace

[Ganesh Lamichhane]

Awesome Book...All readers need to read this really useful and enlightening book.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the absolute best business books I've ever read.
It was a requirement for a MA course, and 8 years later, I still find myself turning to it for support and advice!
It's a no-brainer purchase!

[Fan Marin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truth, beauty, goodness, and unity.
wisdom + virtue

[Steve]

Excellent book.