Defending the status quo
Random House isn’t in the bookstore business, they’re in the business of publishing ideas that matter.
Audi isn’t in the gasoline business. They sell personal transportation.
You’re not in the business of having a job with an office. You are willing to trade time and effort in exchange for money and a chance to do work you’re proud of.
When the world changes, it’s tempting to fight hard to maintain the status quo that feels safe.
And so, utility companies lobby to ease emission standards, when they would be just fine if the standards were tightened. And so tech companies fight against new formats and new forms of exchange instead of leading with them. And of course, powerful cultural forces fight to preserve their hierarchies instead of figuring out how to thrive with new ones.
What we want and how we believe we get it are often two different things.