The ends of the parabola
If we save ourselves poor, it makes people ill. If there is too much choice, it makes us unhappy - despite our enthusiasm for diversity.
Not only since it can be proven in black and white have we known that there are limits which, if we exceed a certain level, have the opposite effect of what we consider desirable with the best of intentions. Shigeo Haruyama, a famous Japanese doctor, puts it in a nutshell: "Moderation determines whether something becomes a cure or a poison." Obviously, moderation in what we do and how we do it is one of the great challenges of our time. Business and politics have fallen in love with saving. The controllers on the one hand and the political admonishers on the other. The louder the analysts' call for quarterly figures becomes and the more board members allow themselves to be put under pressure by them, the more that which companies draw strength and future capital from erodes. People as a "resource" are stumbling under the weight of the tireless struggle for efficiency and are increasingly asking themselves the question of meaning. The soft factors, which still include people, brand and communication, are usually the first to be sacrificed for the sake of unlimited savings opportunities. Unfortunately, this is not without consequences. Brands and their painstakingly built-up brand capital have an extremely short "half-life". The admonitions of many communication and brand managers in companies all too often go unheeded and are crushed in the stock market storm of algorithms that eagerly demand more and more in less and less time.
It is no coincidence that avarice and excess are among the seven deadly sins. Even the digital age has not changed this. It is not only Google, Amazon & Co. that have nurtured limitless choice and unlimited possibilities in the markets. We must recognize this: Too many products and services, too much information and communication impulses leave us helpless rather than delighted. There is no added value for companies, their brands or consumers. How are we supposed to decide whether we want something or not when even low-interest products such as jam, cleaning products or screws continually demand more and more decisions from us? The latest studies provide impressive evidence: too much leaves us at a loss. In the end, indecision wins out and that makes us unhappy.
Focusing only on what is feasible is not a way out. If companies still want to offer products and services that are relevant to customers in the future, they need to ask the question of meaning, because people are increasingly focusing on the question of meaning, whether as consumers or employees.
The article is part of a series of reviews and was first published in the HANDELSBLATT in June 2013.
