Plato on Love: Transforming Business with Ancient Logic

How Love is an Untapped Force for Business:

What is love? Across ages, from Plato to modern thought leaders, this question has intrigued philosophers, poets, and leaders. Yet, in today's professional world, love, arguably the most powerful human force, seldom enters the "rational" discourse in business beyond superficial mentions, except in industries directly profiting from romance, such as greeting cards, chocolates, and diamonds.

While business jargon often touches on attributes of love like commitment, passion, and care, the concept of love itself is conspicuously absent. Even as companies enthusiastically proclaim, "Love what you do!" or "We love our customers!" strategies often resemble battlefield tactics more than romantic engagements. This irony underscores a profound misunderstanding of love within professional settings.

I began questioning my understanding with this quote - erroneously attributed to Buddha:

When you like a flower, you just pluck it. But when you love a flower, you water it daily.

One who understands this, understands life.

This insight transformed my view, emphasizing true care and appreciation over mere attraction or ownership. Inspired by this revelation, I delved into ancient Greek philosophy where writers like Plato meticulously categorized love into six types, each relevant to our modern business landscape:

• Eros: romantic, passionate love
• Storge: familial love, the bond among mothers, fathers, and children
• Philia: deep friendship, brotherly love - e.g., Philadelphia: the city of brotherly love
• Agape: selfless, universal love, extending to strangers, nature, or community
• Pragma: longstanding love, rooted in duty and long-term interests
• Philautia: self-love

In the right business context, these expressions of love can be transformative:

• Eros (passionate love): Eros inspires passion fueling innovation and excellence. Apple, renowned for its dedication to design and user experience, epitomizes Eros by creating products that resonate deeply with consumers' desires and aspirations.
• Storge (familial love): although a parent’s love for a child is unparalleled, in the business world this translates to the connection between a founder and their company, or even a team launching (birthing) a new product or service.
• Philia (deep friendship): enhances relationship quality, building trust, respect, and cooperation. Companies like Wegmans consistently rank high in employee satisfaction due to their corporate culture, which fosters a strong sense of belonging and loyalty.
• Agape (selfless love): This is mirrored in businesses through CSR/ESG initiatives to better the broader community. Patagonia’s commitment to environmental causes is a prime example of Agape in action, embedding a love for nature and sustainability in its business model.
• Pragma (long standing love): Is foundational in customer retention, building partnerships and client relationships that last. Amazon’s approach to customer service, emphasizing long-term customer satisfaction over short-term gains, mirrors Pragma.
• Philautia (self-love): Is critical for self-confidence, decisive action, and other leadership qualities. Imagine any strong business leader you can think of and you will find philautia.

By reconceptualizing these types of love in a business context, we unlock transformative potential. Companies that embrace these varied forms of love can create more powerful and sustainable business practices. But we need to be careful, you can have too much of a good thing—even love. Plato and his contemporaries saw love as a powerful, but neutral force. Like all emotions, there is a dark and a light side to love, capable of both constructive and destructive outcomes. The challenges are real:

• Eros: While it can drive passion and commitment, unchecked it might lead to burnout or irrational decision-making. (Not to mention HR violations!)
• Storge: Strong bonds can enhance teamwork, but excessive comfort might lead to complacency and resistance to change.
• Philia: personal bonds that are too tight can lead to groupthink, exclusivity, cliques, and bias, undermining fairness.
• Agape: While promoting altruism and ethics, it could also lead to prioritizing external perceptions over internal efficiency.
• Pragma: Pragmatic approaches are crucial for long-term success, but too much pragmatism can stifle innovation.
• Philautia: Healthy self-love is necessary, but too much can become self-absorption, as seen in the Kodak and Blockbuster examples, where an inability to see beyond current success led to their downfall.

Join me on this journey to explore how love is highly relevant and a powerful untapped force in business. Subscribe to follow our weekly exploration rethinking how ancient logic can transform modern business practices.

With love,  

-Noah