Capitalism is stuck in a state of pathological urgency that is harmful to us all, including our businesses’ bottom lines. So why can’t we snap out of it?
The vast majority of CEOs, board members, and investors in power at larger public organizations today have been conditioned and rewarded to deliver short-term results at the expense of long-term organizational health. Not hitting your numbers as a CEO? No problem. Simply buy blocks of your own shares, raise the share price, get your bonus, and deliver quick cash to short-term investors.
According to The Economist, share buybacks “have become a kind of corporate cocaine that induces a temporary feeling of invincibility but masks weakness and vacuity.”
The rising popularity of share buybacks is just one symptom of an epidemic of pathological urgency negatively impacting our communities and society at large. Our mass culture seems almost enslaved to the immediacy of social media and always-on communication technology. Our politics have become infected with chronic urgency, with campaigns running on media soundbites and promises that pander to short-term demands. And like an addict getting a quick fix, we are depleting natural resources at a rate faster than our environment can regenerate.
We have become far too accustomed to instant gratification and immediate results. Our planet, communities, and prosperity are suffering as a result.
The good news is that it does not have to be this way.
Fueled by a looming existential crisis, today’s most conscious business leaders are catalyzing a massive evolutionary shift in our culture. This shift is tied to developing the capacity to think and act for the long term, a skill I call decading.
By committing to their own emotional and psychological development, these leaders are creating conditions for society to move into a healthier, more sustainable future. The work is challenging, but it is not random. The internal developmental path is well documented.
To truly transform our culture, we need more business leaders to join them.
The Business Case for Long-Termism
Our understanding of human psychological development is informed by decades of work from researchers including Jean Piaget, Abraham Maslow, Lawrence Kohlberg, James Fowler, Jane Loevinger, Robert Kegan, and others.
These independent studies documented a common pattern in which individual development unfolds in predictable stages. These stages represent milestones of increasing mental, emotional, and spiritual complexity. In short, increasing consciousness complexity.
American philosopher Ken Wilber mapped the implications of individual consciousness development onto societal development. He posits that when 10 percent of a population reaches the leading edge of consciousness development, a tipping point is achieved and those qualities begin to permeate the culture.
To shift our culture from chronic short-termism to sustainable long-termism, we need 10 percent of our population, especially business leaders, to operate in ways that support that shift.
We are close, but not there yet.
From an economic point of view, the case against short-termism is overwhelming.
In 2017, McKinsey released findings from a 15-year study of 615 large- and mid-cap publicly listed U.S. companies. Using their Corporate Horizon Index, researchers measured investment patterns, growth, earnings quality, and earnings management.
The results were clear. From 2001 to 2015, long-term-oriented firms delivered:
- 47 percent higher cumulative revenue
- 36 percent higher cumulative earnings
- $7 billion more in combined market capitalization
So why has behavior not changed?
Why do executives report that pressure to deliver quarterly results is getting worse?
Pathological urgency is not just a business issue. It is a consciousness issue.
Ultimately, the only way to change a culture is to change the humans in it.
America’s Cultural Evolution
Following World War II, the United States rebuilt its economy with a spirit of cooperation and long-term thinking. The cultural center of gravity was duty-bound and group-centric. Individuals sacrificed for the good of the whole.
By the 1970s, individualism rose. Thought leadership from figures like Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman influenced policy, deregulation increased, and free-market ideology dominated.
Over time, the shadow side of Wall Street capitalism gained momentum. Short-term gains became the priority. This trajectory contributed directly to today’s pathological urgency.
This is not an indictment of capitalism itself. Capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty and enabled unprecedented cooperation. But every system has a shadow. For capitalism, that shadow is chronic short-termism driven by self-interest and greed.
The Rise of the Leading Edge
The 2007–2008 financial crisis served as a correction. In its wake, a growing group of leaders began resisting short-termism and insisting on long-term value creation.
These leaders operate from longer time horizons informed by a deep understanding of global interdependence. They are compelled by existential urgency, the evolutionary impulse to move beyond where we are stuck.
Adult development research shows that humans develop both horizontally, what we know and can do, and vertically, who we are.
Leaders at higher developmental stages can hold longer time horizons. Unfortunately, that capacity is rare.
Approximately:
- 85 percent of leaders operate with time horizons of up to five years
- 10 percent operate with horizons of up to ten years
- Only about 5 percent operate in decades or longer
We need 10 percent.
Decaders commit to playing the long game in life and business.
10 Practices for Decaders
Decaders are individuals committed to playing the long game in life and in business. They understand that life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived. Wrestling with these 10 orientations can help you live that mystery.
Locate Yourself in the Long Arc of Time
Own the fact that you are a beneficiary. Your life is only possible because of the hard work and sacrifices of your parents, their parents, and countless others who came before them. Consider that it is now your responsibility, a noble obligation, to pay it forward for future generations that you will never know. In the words of poet Walt Whitman, “the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” What will your verse be?
Learn Deep Lessons from History
Ground yourself in the fundamentals. Study the formation of the universe and explore the evolutionary history of life. Find mentors and use books to learn about key historical figures such as Plato, Lao-Tzu, Queen Elizabeth I, Lincoln, Hitler, Mussolini, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, and Mandela. Find eternal patterns and reflect on how they apply in your own life.
Accept Impermanence
Realize that change is the only constant in life. Stop clinging to a fixed and permanent reality. Each day, empty yourself of the illusion of your own certainty about how the world works. See the fleeting nature of everything, especially your own sense of self.
Be in the Present Moment
Every moment offers you the opportunity to stop, interrupt your normal automatic process, and be here now. Practice gratitude and acknowledge the present moment as your ultimate teacher. As Charlotte Joko Beck says, “Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor or employee, every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath. Every moment is the guru.”
Cultivate Active Curiosity
When grounded in present-moment awareness, you have access to active curiosity. In this state, you can choose to be interested and nurture a meaningful relationship with your questions. Discover how questions can be far more powerful than answers, as they represent the gateway to possibility and transformation. The right questions, whether “why?” or “why not?”, can be revolutionary. Lean into the unknown.
Recognize the Interconnectedness of Everything
No one is an island, and just as your life’s journey has been shaped by the experiences and struggles of all your ancestors, your present and future are a product of many interlinked relationships and systems. Connect the dots, learn to see larger patterns, and extend your maps. Discover a sense of awe and enrich your perspective through travel, engaging unfamiliar cultures, and experiencing the richness of nature.
Embrace Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity
When we’re able to befriend the uncertainties, complexities, and ambiguities of life, we’re also able to cultivate resilience and understanding. Notice the temptation and resist the impulse to reduce the world to something more familiar and manageable. Seek what Oliver Wendell Holmes called the “simplicity that lies on the other side of complexity” as a means to maturing your whole self.
Defer Immediate Gratification
Recognize and resist your default drive toward immediate short-term satisfaction by pausing to consider long-term intentional outcomes, the very basis of awareness and choice. Note when impulsive action, whether motivated by anger, fear, or desire, can lead to regret. Begin with the end in mind and consider how the choice you make in this moment connects to your future.
Release Attachments to Specific Outcomes
Practice the simple act of observation without judgment or evaluation. Work with whatever shows up, right or wrong, good or bad. See everything that happens as feedback for growth and a contributor to your future self. Work with the energies of disappointment, failure, and frustration rather than against them. Surrender to win.
Dance with the Always-Emerging Future
As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke said, “The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.” Open yourself to the emerging future and participate in its unfolding. Find your rhythm as you shape and are shaped by the miraculous movement of time.
Join the 10 Percent
After years of working with senior executives, I have found that vertical development is available to most leaders. Few are willing to engage the discomfort it requires.
The dilemma of success is real. Those with the most power often have the most to lose and are least likely to change.
Yet the winning formula that creates success at one level often becomes the very thing that prevents growth to the next.
So we must start with ourselves.
Where have we benefited from short-term wins at the expense of long-term health?
If you are willing to leave the comfort of the known and step toward the leading edge, I invite you to become a Decader.
Because if not us, who?
If not now, when?
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Join Rand Stagen and MEA founder Chip Conley for The Pursuit of Higher Ground, February 22–26 at our Santa Fe campus.
Over four days at our Rising Circle Ranch, you’ll design your next 10 years and build an “Infinite Game” plan with Chip and the co-founder of Conscious Capitalism. You’ve climbed. Now it’s time to ask: what’s worth pursuing from here?
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