“We’re in business to make money,” said the businessman.

All I could think was that I would not want to be his customer. His interest is only in himself. How much care would be given to me?

However, self-interest is not necessarily bad, we all have a little, we all want to live and be happy. But when that motivation loses sight of and disregards the impact on others, it becomes something else, something sinister, it becomes selfishness. 

But we can have a different outcome. We can change the narrative. We can shift innate self-interest away from selfishness.

When flight attendants instruct passengers on the air masks on a plane, they always say to mask yourself first. However, they are not suggesting that you save yourself and forget about everyone else, rather, they are promoting saving yourself so you can help everyone else.

Lesson? Imagine if that businessman had finished his “we’re in business to make money” pronouncement with “so we can better serve customers.”

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