But: Today the quote is used mostly to justify a business approach that is solely focused on making a buck AND which ignores everything else. The irony is of course that this leads to lower profits :o)

I found it curious that you drew out the comment from Milton Friedman about business. I’ve always read that differently. To me, Milton is saying that business should only be ultimately concerned with getting business done – in economic terms, making profit. That doesn’t mean that employers shouldn’t give employees fun, happy, and inspiring work environment – you’ve argued persuasively that they should. As you’ve said before, happy workplaces are a good way to increase profit too – precisely what I think Friedman was trying to get at – even if you only ultimately concern yourself with money, you have to concern yourself with happiness too. To me, the two are inextricably linked (together with running an efficient company, making products people really want to buy, and all the other things that help increase profit).

I should add the disclaimer that I’m a big fan of Friedman’s ideas anyway, as one could tell from a quick survey of some of my postings on my blog. But I don’t think anyone who understands how to run an effective business would discard your ideas out of hand (Google being an example that springs to mind again, simply because I’m unimaginative :)

Robert: Cool – thank you very much for making it happen! When you read the book, please let me know what you think!

Even though I didn’t win the book, I still plan on getting soon!