The Risk of Going too Far

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.  – T.S. Eliot

In the name of doing what’s right, how far do we go? How much do we put at risk? If we don’t fail sometimes, and I mean spectacularly fail sometimes, how will we find true equality and fairness in business and in society as a whole?

If doing the right thing causes a business to collapse, should the collapsing business stop doing the right thing to survive? Does the world really need another business that failed to do the right thing and so to survive it resorted back to doing less than the right thing?

In continuing to own Boloco – now at 6 restaurants – I think about these questions a lot. When would I compromise food quality, highest-in-industry employee wages and benefits, our status as a B-Corp, or any other number of attributes that I believe give our small business a fighting chance for meaning and relevancy?

I think you go to the mat. Fight to the death for what’s right, especially if you have advantages like I do where failure doesn’t mean food stamps or homelessness. It is therefore my duty to risk going too far to determine how far we actually might be able to go.

Your thoughts?