Many years ago, one of my mentors, Ted Veru, taught me something that has stayed with me throughout my life. Ted was the CEO of an advertising company where I served as president, and I learned a tremendous amount from observing his approach to business and leadership. He had an expression that I’ve thought about countless times over the years.
“For every good there is an evil, and for every evil there is a good.”
I’ve always found that philosophy fascinating because it recognizes something we sometimes overlook. Extraordinary opportunities can create unfortunate consequences, and difficult circumstances can reveal unexpected possibilities. I’ve seen that principle play out in business and life, but perhaps never more dramatically than today, as artificial intelligence transforms the world around us.
We’re witnessing technological advancements that are changing entire industries, creating remarkable efficiencies and allowing businesses to accomplish things that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. Companies can produce more, operate faster, improve quality and increase profitability with fewer resources. But there’s another side to that equation.
The same technologies creating extraordinary opportunities for businesses are eliminating jobs, changing the skills employers need and creating uncertainty for people whose livelihoods depend on work that may no longer be necessary. What represents tremendous progress for one person can represent a devastating setback for another.
I recently visited a very large, successful company, and its president was kind enough to give me a tour of its offices. As we walked through the building, he explained how technology, particularly artificial intelligence, had dramatically changed the way the company operated. Revenue was growing, profitability was improving, and technology had become one of its greatest competitive advantages.
What really caught my attention was how dramatically its workforce had changed. He described departments that had been reduced by 20%, 40%, 60% and even 80%. Some departments had disappeared altogether. The people who remained were operating within much smaller teams supported by AI and automation. Based on what I heard and observed, I estimated that the company’s overall payroll may have declined by approximately 40%, even as revenue continued to grow.
From a financial perspective, those results were remarkable.
But as I listened, I couldn’t help thinking about something beyond the numbers. What happened to all those people who were no longer there? Were they given an opportunity to prepare for the changes? Were they encouraged to develop new skills, embrace new technologies and find ways to contribute to the company’s future? Or did everything happen so quickly that many never had a meaningful chance to adapt?
I don’t know the answers, and I certainly don’t know enough about that company’s circumstances to judge its decisions. Technology can eliminate certain kinds of work even when employees are talented, dedicated and willing to learn. But the experience raised a question that I believe deserves much more attention.
What if we challenged ourselves to use technology not simply to replace people, but to make our people more successful?
Think about that for a moment. Imagine a company capable of generating two or three times its current revenue without needing two or three times the number of employees. Not because everyone is working twice as hard, but because technology, smarter systems and more efficient processes allow the existing team to accomplish substantially more.
Imagine eliminating repetitive tasks, reducing unnecessary work, improving communication and giving talented people more time to focus on creativity, strategy, problem-solving, relationships and the work that creates the greatest value.
Now imagine what that could mean financially. Greater productivity could generate higher revenue and stronger profit margins. Those improvements could create opportunities to reinvest in the business, increase compensation, develop new capabilities and provide greater opportunities for the people who helped make that success possible.
That’s a vision of winning that interests me tremendously.
But before we go further, I think we need to consider a more fundamental question. What does it really mean to win? For many people, success is closely associated with money, and understandably so. Money provides security, comfort, opportunity and the ability to accomplish things we might otherwise be unable to do. I’ve spent much of my professional life building businesses, creating value and pursuing financial success, so I would never suggest that money isn’t important.
But I’ve also learned something from my own experiences.
Making money isn’t the definition of success. It’s the result of it.
I believe success, in its purest form, begins with happiness. I’ve experienced periods of tremendous financial security, and I’ve also experienced periods when my financial future was far less certain. Interestingly, some of the happiest moments of my life occurred during those less financially secure times.
Those experiences taught me that money and happiness aren’t necessarily connected in the way many people assume. Money can improve our circumstances and create opportunities, but it can’t guarantee happiness. And happiness certainly doesn’t require financial wealth.
That perspective has influenced how I think about building a successful company.
Profitability is critically important, but I don’t believe it should be the only measure of success. I believe we should also consider what that profitability makes possible for the people who helped create it, the customers who benefit from it and the future of the organization itself.
Of course, none of those opportunities exist without a financially healthy business. Revenue must cover payroll, benefits, facilities, technology, equipment, insurance and countless other expenses. What’s left determines a company’s ability to reinvest, grow, withstand difficult economic periods and reward its people.
That’s why being busy isn’t necessarily the same as being productive, and generating more revenue doesn’t automatically mean a business is becoming more profitable. If stronger profitability is the outcome we want to create, we need to work backward and identify what will make it possible. We need to generate more value, improve efficiency, eliminate unnecessary work, increase capacity and find better ways to serve our customers. And technology gives us an extraordinary opportunity to accomplish those things.
But there’s a reality we cannot ignore. Technology is moving forward whether we’re ready or not.
I’ve always believed that when significant change is coming, you can be the steamroller, or you can be the pavement. It’s a hard analogy, but sometimes hard messages are necessary. Competitors aren’t going to slow down because we’re uncomfortable with change. Customers aren’t going to lower their expectations because we prefer familiar methods. And the marketplace isn’t going to reward us simply because we’ve always done things a certain way.
The same principle applies to each of us individually. Whatever position, opportunity or competitive advantage we have today, someone else is working to earn it. That doesn’t mean we should live in fear, but it does mean we should never become complacent. We have to keep learning, developing new capabilities, improving our performance and finding ways to become more valuable. The people who succeed in a changing world aren’t necessarily those who know the most today. They’re often the people most willing to learn what they’ll need to know tomorrow. And that brings me to what may be the greatest challenge in making this vision a reality.
Technology alone won’t create the outcome. People will.
A company can invest in sophisticated AI systems, powerful automation tools and extraordinary technology, but if its people don’t embrace those capabilities, use them intelligently and continually improve how they work, those investments will never deliver their full potential.
Real transformation requires buy-in, discipline, accountability, innovation, collaboration and perseverance. It requires people who understand what we’re trying to accomplish and genuinely want to contribute to making it happen. It also requires leaders who communicate a clear vision, invest in their people, encourage independent thinking and create opportunities for everyone to grow.
Some people will adapt to new technologies faster than others, and that’s perfectly understandable. The important distinction isn’t always how quickly someone learns, but whether they’re willing to learn at all. And I believe some of the greatest opportunities for innovation will come from the people doing the work every day. They’re the ones who understand where time is being wasted, where processes are inefficient, where mistakes occur and where technology could make the greatest difference.
We should encourage those people to question everything, challenge existing practices, share their ideas and help develop better ways of doing things. Genuine buy-in doesn’t mean agreeing with every decision. It means caring enough about the outcome to help make those decisions better.
Now imagine bringing all those things together.
Imagine a company that becomes dramatically more productive and profitable while creating greater opportunities for the people who helped build it. Imagine employees becoming more skilled, more valuable and better compensated as the organization grows. Imagine customers receiving even better service because technology has allowed talented people to concentrate on what matters most.
At a time when so much of the conversation surrounding artificial intelligence focuses on the jobs it may eliminate, what if we could demonstrate how technology can create greater opportunities for the people willing to embrace it? What if we could prove that extraordinary profitability and a genuine commitment to people don’t have to be opposing objectives?
That doesn’t mean every position will remain unchanged or every difficult business decision can be avoided. Markets change, customers make different decisions, and companies sometimes face circumstances beyond their control. But we can choose the direction we want to pursue, the principles that guide our decisions and the opportunities we work to create. And perhaps that’s what winning really comes down to.
It’s not simply about generating more revenue, earning greater profits or becoming more efficient, although all those things matter. It’s about what those accomplishments allow us to create. Greater opportunities. Stronger teams. Better customer experiences. More resilient businesses. And people who become more successful because they contributed to something meaningful.
The question isn’t whether technology is going to change the way we work. It already is. The question is what we’re going to do with that change, what we’re willing to become and what kind of future we’re going to build together.
Because ultimately, I don’t believe we have to choose between profitability and humanity. I believe the greatest opportunity is to challenge ourselves to achieve both.
