"I'll Be Gone, You'll Be Gone" and the Endemic of Short-termism

The mindset that most threatens the world is the endemic of short term thinking.

Speaking at The Feast in New York City, Economist editor and Philanthrocapitalism author used a phrase that deeply resonated with me. He spoke of the "endemic of short-termism," using a particular phrase from Wall Street to reinforce his point.

IBGYBG. I'll Be Gone. You'll Be Gone.

The point is, of course, let's do whatever we can to make money now, because by the time the consequences hit, we'll be long gone.

This mindset is manipulative, malicious, and real. It also has deep and dangerous historical roots. It reminds me of the famous quote attributed to King Louis XV: "Après moi, le déluge” (“After me, the deluge"). Of course, what followed him was the violence and upheaval of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era. Even earlier, the philosopher Seneca castigated the mindset in a work addressed to the hedonistic Roman emperor Nero.

This mindset has structured business for far too long. Luckily, there is a powerful counter narrative. That counter narrative is the idea of generational stewardship, in which people recognize their responsibility to leave the world, on the whole, better off than when they arrived.

What we're beginning to realize is that this generational stewardship cannot just be financial. It can't be just about higher minimum wages. It has to be about health; the health of our economy, the health of our environment, the health of our society.

So what mindset will win? That has to be our task to determine.