John Moore, a past In-HOWse Designer Conference speaker, recently linked to a Time interview with the founders of Whole Food Market and The Container Store (who just happened to live together for a year while they were in college). What's interesting about it, is that the two men share a similar business philosophy, one that is both refreshing and smart.

Mackey: I think perhaps accidentally we hit almost simultaneously upon the philosophy that I think will be the dominant philosophy in business in the 21st century. And it's this principle of the stakeholder--that the purpose of business is not primarily to maximize shareholder value, that that's a myth.

Tindell: Milton Friedman said it was the only reason for the enterprise to go ahead.

Mackey: But I've met very few entrepreneurs who created their businesses for that purpose. What Kip and I both realized is that if you manage the business on behalf of all of these interconnected stakeholders--the customers, the team members/employees, the suppliers, the investors, the greater community, the environment--that if you create value for all of them, they're all interdependent. And that that will create the most successful business.

Posted by Megan