While a co-op might need to learn that fiscal discipline need not be a bad thing, traditional business can learn that having heart and acknowledging spirit within its four walls can provide an exponential increase in profit. Both models can win big time.

There's a battle going on—and not just in the Middle East. Core business models have been at odds for years. My bet is there is more to be won than lost by integrating ideals and celebrating similarities instead of holding onto our differences. While it's a good metaphor for war, let's focus on business for now.

The catalyst for my opening paragraph is an amazing client whose business model is a for-profit cooperative. Strict vegetarian dining, organic food -you know, dreadlocks and blue jeans -are at the heart of this co-op vs. the more traditional suits and ties we think of when discussing business leadership.

Historically, this organization led with its heart and good intentions, but lacked the effective bookkeeping, accounting or even dynamic guest outreach to non-member customers. Amazing vegetarian food was being prepared daily with great attention to organic production, yet it lacked business enlightenment.

I assured the organization that bookkeeping, food safety, budgets, hiring criterion, performance and definitions of excellence are all important parts of a business -that profit and diligence could walk hand-in-hand. A light bulb went off in the minds of the board of directors, managers and members. They realized that there can be a balance.

My experience in the last couple weeks reiterated to me that there is something for co-ops to learn from more traditional entrepreneurial risk-taking (and reward-taking). At the same time, there is also a clear case for a vice-versa. While a co-op might need to learn that fiscal discipline need not be a bad thing, traditional business can learn that having heart and acknowledging spirit within its four walls can provide an exponential increase in profit. Both models can win big time.

Differentiating Models
The co-op is a for-profit business model that actively acknowledges responsibility to community. Profit is shared with members, and profits are targeted to the betterment of local community. This for-profit environment can flourish like any other with great products, clear budgets, tuned financial statements, daily cash reconciliation and great service.

Obvious differences from a more traditional business model, however, include vendor relationships that sustain local business being actively sought. Also, net operating profits are not only fed back to membership, but actively integrated into sustaining the local community.

Sustainability really intrigues me as a businessman. What are we to do if we don't begin to celebrate and investigate our interdependence? For now, it's enough to say I find myself intrigued holding both global awareness and commitment to local community. There is something here for those of us in more traditional business models. The concept of interdependence, both local and not, is potent. And this is probably best left for another column.

There is a more intriguing nuance to investigate that is relevant to those of us interested in high-performance and profitable business: Business and heart work well together. Milton Friedman's famous quote comes to mind: "The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits."

As we experience Enron, savings and loans, current military contracting and other misguided business entities, there are many of us out there that disagree with Friedman. Whole Foods is one company that has taken Friedman's quote head-on and countered very successfully. Many of my clients are leading this new, non-dual approach to business with great success, too. Co-ops and other values-driven, socially responsible business models do offer an alternative.

Parenthetically, the discipline of more traditional business models offer something equally dynamic to the more socially responsible business models, as well. This brings me to an idea that instead of dueling over this way or that way, we as North American business people may be ready to step into non-duality as a business model.

Non-Duality Defined
What do I mean by non-duality? Having a heart, caring for one's community and the people that work for you is actually consistent and compatible with the strong discipline of more traditional business models.

Combine the two ways of looking at commerce and, lo and behold, you will get high performance. This is not just a theory -for 28 years now, I've witnessed it. There is a noticeable, highly productive wave of business that is validating my point.

Make no mistake, taking care of business means being disciplined, yet acknowledging that almost all business provides something deeper to customers or guests that buy products or experience than simply the products sold.

For example, insurance (hopefully) provides peace of mind, a sense of security; shoes a sense of safety, perhaps a sense of achievement; cars a sense of accomplishment or self-awareness, not just transportation; restaurants in selling food and drink -when delivered effectively -actually provide a restoration of soul.

This is the case whether a concept is a drive-thru or a fine dining experience. For co-ops, this deeper purpose is community well-being and sustainability that comes out of local organic food, caring attitude and shared profits.

The Balance
Imagine health, wellness, shared profit -even wealth -at a community level. When deeper purpose, spirit and heart supports profitability, there is higher potential for intrinsically motivated people.

What are the results achieved? From my ongoing experience, there is consistently higher retention, more passion at work, more productivity, less theft, greater return on investment, greater sales and higher profit.

Ironically, in the last week, two things have occurred. With my co-op client, I heard repeatedly that it never seemed possible to combine the discipline of daily accounting, budgets and performance criteria with a sense of kindness, gentleness, even spiritual well-being. Almost simultaneously, I heard excitement from a more traditionally run client as it shared its personal passion about its products, and its leaders' lives, while tracking fiscal performance on a daily basis.

In this case, clear performance criteria actually provided more peace of mind. I wonder how clear performance, defined boundaries -coupled with deeper purpose, and discipline in life as well as business -actually integrate in an amazingly effective way. People who have definitions of excellence around them achieve goals more easily.

When misses occur, course corrections are made quicker, cleaner, with less angst and amazingly enough, they are happier at work.

We each have some passion, a discipline, a practice of some sort. From yoga instructors to executive chefs, every career is a balancing act that requires discipline and commitment to one's life values. Suddenly, business is life; life is business. Ethics have a place. Life is non-dual, we live one way, in excellence.

Rudy M. Miick, FCSI, president of Miick & Associates, can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 720-641-7565.