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What we measure reveals what we value
Somewhere between the spreadsheets and the PowerPoints, growth can become a race, efficiency an obsession, and people become data points. But do people remember the quarterly report that broke records? Or do they remember how the company made them feel?
As companies grow, they often default to complex systems, metrics, and processes, forgetting that businesses are built on people. It may be because the world rewards those who master complexity, but we forget that it remembers those who simplify what we didn’t even know was complicated.
Should company annual reports, case studies, resumes, and designer portfolios focus more on metrics?
What would a human-centered portfolio, a resume, or a report look like if it measured humanity instead of just performance?
Could company reports reflect the legacy they’re building, not just the year they’ve had?
In the journey for growth, sometimes companies sacrifice their insurgent mission and DNA of purpose for efficiency. But we forget that customers don’t fall in love with efficiency. They fall in love with care. Efficiency may win quarters, but humanity wins decades. Efficiency might scale operations, but empathy scales legacies. As we perfect our processes, we risk erasing the imperfection that makes us unforgettable.
Do flaws tell the most human stories?
Growth isn’t the enemy of humanity—it is the mirror that reflects what we’ve chosen to prioritize. The question isn’t whether growth is good but whether it’s guided by purpose or by greed disguised as progress.
Somewhere here, growth stopped being about creating and started being about calculating. The art of building something beautiful got buried under the science of making it scalable as if a company were a machine.
A company isn’t a machine. It’s a living, breathing organism. It thrives on care, weakens with indifference, and dies without purpose. It grows the way people grow — through wonder, relationships, mistakes that teach, and stories that inspire. Such growth feels less like a race and more…
