Value-based decision making

A cousin of mine bought a few years back a vintage camper van and completely revamped it. It is bright orange and now looks like new. As you understand it is iconic of an era and quite hard to find.

So, while minding his business, an advertising company asked him back then to participate in the ad campaign they would be doing to promote the set-up of a wind farm in Agrafa Mountains. The shooting would take no more than two days, he did not have to be there but the van had, the money was good, and this was going to have so much exposure that other gigs might have followed. Why would one turn this offer down?

There had been a lot of debate and protests about this installation, and people were split.

Although he was not really actively participating in the protests at the time, he gave it some thought and decided that he did not want to be associated with the overall situation the way it was shaping; the ad would probably go through anyhow with someone else’s van, he thought.

So, here’s one – out of many – thought process:

Would anyone care enough to search who this van belongs to? Probably no one.

Even if someone would, would they attribute any blame to the owner of the van? Probably not. The most common assumption would be that this is rented. Objects have owners and renting them is a business. So, it is not personal, it is business and it probably does not reflect the owner’s stance on this debate.

Is it business for him? No. It is personal.

Does it match his attitude to life, his mentality, his ethos? No.

Does he have a choice in what he supports? Yes.

Will supporting or even becoming any part of this make him proud? No.

Is there any amount of money that will change how he might feel about this? Probably not.

Will anyone know that he decided not to be part of this? Definitely no.

Will anyone care? YES! He will.

What if more people REALLY cared for the causes they say they believe in? Would anyone know? Probably yes.

How? The ad agency would not find anyone to rent their camper van to them. The article on the press would not have been about the protests, it would have been about the ad agency that decided to promote this project.

What if more people REALLY CARED?

What if there is a value-system-bound thought process behind decision-making in business?

What if business was personal?