Ridgefield Businessman Touts A New Age Of 'Conscious Capitalism'

RIDGEFIELD, CT — Philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand laid it out, pretty clearly and famously, for a generation of business people: If you want to be successful at capitalism, you'll need to put your altruism on hold. Now, one Ridgefield businessman and author is finding success swimming against that current.

In his first book, "Altruistic Business, Why Conscious Businesses Outperform the Competition," Gavin Watson draws on four decades of working at his family's food manufacturing business, and two decades of research, to deconstruct capitalism's self-centered premise.

The problems, and solutions, of American business are embedded in its evolution, according to Watson.

"Basically, the narcissists and sociopaths prevail in the business world, and therefore, nice people finish last," Watson told Patch.

The solution, he said, can be found in the four intertwined principles of "conscious capitalism" — conscious culture, higher purpose, stakeholder orientation, and conscious leadership. Businesses need to create a culture of trust and caring, which leads to higher employee engagement and productivity, and a successful company. He will be explaining the process in detail on Oct. 17 at the Ridgefield Library.

"Your employees, your customers, your suppliers are the communities that the company is in, and all stakeholders in the business need to be responsive and responsible for them," Watson said.

"But another way to look at that, is if that whole group behaved altruistically towards each other, if the business acts appropriately, and that group then responds and they act altruistically together, that group of companies and community will outcompete other groups … where they don't have that kind of collaboration and cooperation."

It's not that capitalistic competition is completely outdated, he said.

"When the competition is between individuals, those things are important. But when it's a competition between groups, it's the group that's the most effective at collaborating and cooperating together, that wins the competition."

Starting as a maintenance mechanic at the family business, Watson, Inc., in West Haven in his late 20s, Watson spent 35 years learning the ropes of business-building. He is now chair of the Connecticut Chapter of Conscious Capitalism and owner of Gavin Watson & Associates, a consulting firm helping companies grow sustainably with conscious culture and leadership.

"The general ideology is, 'that's craziness.' I would get lots of pushback from managers and other people saying, 'Gavin, you can't do this stuff.' And I'd say, 'Well, why?' And they'd say, 'Well, you just can't, this is not the way you're supposed to do it.'"