Being an idealist is not enough — get real!

I consider myself an idealist; a person who believes that the most important thing in life is the thought and the spirit, and not the material. An idea is worth fighting for even when others say it is unfeasible.

We idealists are many, but often we seem to have a naive worldview, in my opinion. Just like the moral philosophers that Adam Smith refers to in his text, so do we often complain that society does not seem to care about wisdom and virtue; our work, our ambitions, and the great responsibility we voluntarily put on ourselves. We receive no help, no attention, and even though what we do is so important, nothing seems to happen for the benefit of us. I often think that there is a kind of victim mentality that goes on among us; without having to act on the same conditions as those we are fighting against, we will still be victorious and win their respect.

For me, it’s like entering an ice hockey rink without any protective gear and asking the opposing team to not shoot as hard.

During the last five years, a change has begun to occur that warms my heart. Young social entrepreneurs who have started amazing businesses that do not compromise between idealism and commercialism do not operate in this way at all. I beg your pardon, but it is we, the older generation, that still operates in the same old fashion.

We were taught that a serious non-profit commitment couldn’t be commercialized, for risk of losing its warm soul. Marketing, advertising, and sales are words that we have not even had to use, let alone actively express.

We were also taught that a serious commercial venture should be ruthless, or else it loses its focus on the core business: profit. Too much talk about ethical rules, social responsibility, and societal commitment turned us into mere good Samaritans, hopeful idealists, or, in the best case scenario, enthusiasts.

The very strange effect this has is that when the demand for so-called Good Companies and brands grows, it is not the companies that have had the most suitable activities that will take the most market shares, but those that have seen the open window of opportunity and have met the demands.

For a long period of time, the Swedish Ronald McDonald Kids Club recruited more new members than the Swedish cooperative housing association HSB. Swedish life insurance provider Skandia acquired the position of being more socially oriented than any of its competitors, despite the fact that one of them, Folksam, already had a social mission inscribed onto its mission statement, and another, Länsförsäkringar, is owned by its customers. The ethical pension fund, KPA, recruited lots of new members, despite the fact that they’ve never come close to reaching Folksam’s standards.There are many examples of successful companies with a fairly crass view of how they should respond to the market of values. They have often had more success than they should, while companies that operate within a moral framework have, unfortunately, been left aside.

As an idealist, I cannot expect any advantages. Quite the contrary. When my opponents see idealism, they see a weakness and shoot harder just because they can. As idealists, we therefore need at least as much protection as everyone else, as well as better-angled hockey sticks and faster skates.

It is time that we who admire wisdom and virtue stop acting like moral philosophers, sharpen our elbows, and make sure to prove that it can be done in a better way. No one else will do it for us.

We must achieve a change in the foundation of business, if we are to survive.

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