What distinguishes business models that support human flourishing from those that undermine it?
Business is the vehicle through which new technologies are deployed into society at scale. These technologies often have the potential to expand human capabilities, improve our quality of life, and open new possibilities for how we live and work. The choices businesses make about how their products are designed, marketed, and monetized can profoundly shape whether those technologies ultimately contribute to human well-being or undermine it.
These choices, however, are not made in a vacuum. Businesses must compete for customers in the open market, attract capital from risk averse investors, and generate financial returns to survive. Yet an unbridled pursuit of profitability and market power can incentivize business models that impose significant costs on individuals and society in the form of negative externalities.
How can businesses reconcile the demands of commercial success with a responsibility to the people and communities their products affect? And what distinguishes a business model that genuinely supports human flourishing from one that comes at its expense?
In this interactive session, we'll explore these tensions through the case study of the attention economy, examining how the business models of digital platforms shape the technologies we use and our relationships with them. Through group discussion and collaborative exercises, participants will consider the incentives, constraints, and trade-offs facing businesses, and explore what it might take to build commercially viable enterprises that also advance human well-being.
Location: 545 8th Ave #2110 New York, NY 10018
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