Why I Don’t Like “Conscious” Capitalism

Every time I get lunch with John Mackey, I still get nervous.

John is the founder of Whole Foods, and he lives here in Austin.

He is one of my heroes… for many reasons.

Seven years ago, he wrote Conscious Capitalism.

It was everywhere here in Austin.

It created a movement.

The book encouraged people to think about creating value, instead of succeeding at the expense of others.

I liked the book, but I was confused by it.

“Doesn’t everybody already think this way?” I wondered to myself.

Until recently, I did not understand why people viewed “Capitalism” negatively.

But now I understand that some people see Capitalism as being “at the expense of others.”

But that isn’t a real thing.

You literally cannot succeed at others expense.

You can only succeed when you provide value for other people.

The more value you provide, the more you succeed.

That’s why ALL Capitalism is “conscious,” just to varying degrees.

But here’s the rub…

When you are operating alone…

When you think only about what you can GET, rather than how much you can CREATE…

…then you can only create so much value.

Being a solo-preneur is fun and fast, but you can only go so far on your own.

That’s why… instead of calling it Conscious Capitalism, I like to call it something different.

I call it Collaborative Capitalism.

Or maybe even Collective Capitalism.

Because the truth is, we create a lot more when we come together, work together, and serve together.

Heck… Jeff Bezos is the richest person alive… and he only owns 11% of Amazon.

He had to work with a lot of others in order to become the wealthiest person in history.

He had to create a lot of value for a lot of people in order to achieve that status.

When you think about only yourself…

When you think about ‘how much of the pie’ you get to control, rather than how much you create…

Then you have a ceiling.

You will get way further ahead, and you will make way more money, if you think about Collaborative Capitalism.

That’s why “Serve” is one of our core values.

Take ownership. Serve others. Create change.

Own. Serve. Create Change.

This isn’t pie in the sky mumbo jumbo…

It’s how the world works.

You become successful and rich by creating something that helps a lot of people.

All Capitalism is conscious.

But you create way more value when you collaborate with others and serve the collective.

That’s how you become REALLY successful… and happy.

Here’s John Mackey’s presentation on the CapCon stage (back when the event was called Freedom Fast Lane), if you’d like to learn more: