FOREWORD

Across the more than twenty years since I first met Sco Martin, our conversations have always revolved around one simple truth that we take to be self-evident: individual human beings are at the core of every company’s reason for being.

Over that same period of time, it has been pre y safe to say that very few companies operate as though they accept that truth. Far too many companies behave in a manner that dehumanizes the people around them. e terms we use to describe these people include customers, employees, vendors, and community members. But those terms o en enable—rather than slow—this dehumanization process.

No one wakes up in the morning and says, “I can’t wait to assume my role as a customer of Acme Corporation.” No one.

Instead, we wake up and think: I’m hungry . . . I should go to the diner for breakfast. Or perhaps: my sweater is looking a li le ra y; maybe I should order a new one. By the same token, very few executives wake up and think: time to make my employees miserable today.

To varying degrees, most of us are victimized by a system that over numerous decades has become exceptionally buggy. It emphasizes short-term results so strongly that long-term results su er. It causes leaders to unintentionally demotivate employees, o en until that same system turns against the leaders and causes them to lose their jobs. It frustrates the people who are spending their hard-earned money (“customers”), who o en opt for the least-bad of numerous disappointing options.

Who is the villain in this story?

All of us.

e villain isn’t out there. Every single one of us who accepts the status quo is to blame. Every one of us who says, “ at’s just the way the system works,” is making it possible for the system to keep working that way (i.e., very badly).

In this book, Sco Martin makes the case that there is a much better alternative. We can and should run businesses in a manner that treats individuals—and the natural environment around us—with deep respect. Importantly, that includes you, whether you are a founder, a president, an investor, or the newest intern on the block.

Doing business in a more humane manner also means treating yourself with respect and honoring the ways that you work best.

Sco has long divided his time well between business, adventure, and life. He doesn’t see the ocean and mountains as separate from work life. He recognizes that each of us lives our entire lifetime in a very thin strip of air, tight against this planet’s surface. No ma er how much time you spend in an air-conditioned o ce, you are part of the natural ecosystem of this planet, and your interests are bound tightly together with the rest of ours.

Let’s join together and form a Groundswell that elevates every human being. Let’s treat ourselves and others with respect. When we spot a dehumanizing belief, process, or practice, let’s call it out and fix it.

We are not powerless; we are all-powerful. Together, we can build a much be er way to get stu done. Instead of complaining, let’s give the business world a major upgrade.

Together, let’s build a Groundswell!

Bruce Kasano Park City, Utah