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Reading People Over Profit takes several hours, but the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

Who is the author of People Over Profit?

The author of People Over Profit is Dale Partridge.

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People Over Profit Book Summary - People Over Profit Book explained in key points

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People Over Profit summary

Name: People Over Profit
Rating: 4.5 (32 reviews)
Author: Dale Partridge

Dale Partridge

Break The System, Live With Purpose, Be More Successful

4.5 (32 ratings)

17 mins

Brief summary

People Over Profit by Dale Partridge is a business book that emphasizes the importance of prioritizing people over profits. It challenges conventional business practices and provides practical advice for creating a sustainable, values-driven company.

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Success Entrepreneurship

Table of Contents

People Over Profit
Summary of 7 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 7

What’s in it for me? Be like Google and “don’t be evil.”

Take a few seconds and try to think of some companies you really hate, ones that – you think – make the world a worse place.

How many did you think of? Probably quite a few; there are probably some fast food companies in there, maybe a few energy providers and definitely a few cellphone contractors!

Truth be told, many companies seem to drift toward the “dark side,” becoming disliked by customers for various reasons, be it the quality of their products, their dreadful customer service or their policies toward the environment and the developing world.

But it doesn’t have to be this way! These blinks show you why companies seem to turn “bad” and how they can avoid doing so. In fact, no company needs to get on our bad side – they just need to know what to do to remain our friends.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

why McDonald's lost their reputation for serving quality products;
how Toyota reacted to its cars having a lethal malfunction; and
why giving things away for free can lead to greater success.

Corporations aren’t inherently good or evil, they just go through different phases.

From banking to food, fashion to advertising, there’s no shortage of examples of how ugly, greedy and ruthless capitalism can become. Most of us just accept it as part of doing business. But did you ever really think about why companies go bad?

Of course, the story of corporations sacrificing their integrity for profit is as old as capitalism itself; very few corporations manage to maintain a clean reputation for their entire lifespan. The reality is that no company has ever been born either good or evil and stayed that way forever. Rather, most companies get caught up in an endless cycle.

So what does this cycle look like? Most companies move through predictable, successive stages of honesty, then efficiency, then deception and, ultimately, redemption – that is, if the business is fortunate enough to last that long.

In fact, many “bad companies” were actually industry leaders in their early days, but then lost sight of their clients’ interests somewhere along the way. A perfect example of this phenomenon is McDonald’s. Founded in 1950, the company’s motto was (believe it or not) “Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value.”

Yes, quality stood at the core of the company’s priorities, and it even drove the immediate success of the brand. Yet today, McDonald’s fights scandal after scandal, regularly sued by customers who blame hamburgers and French fries for their excessive weight.

What happened? Well, somewhere along the way, the company moved into the efficiency section of the cycle and pushed quality and service into the background.

Even so, most good companies are either still in their early stages and haven’t become twisted yet, or are old horses attempting to redeem a tattered public image.

Looking at things this way, we can see that McDonald’s might not be dead and buried just yet. It could yet turn its image around and revert to its once-forgotten focus on quality. In the following blinks, we’ll investigate the phases that companies go through more closely, starting with their virtuous beginnings.

Companies begin their cycle by being honest and efficient.

Since companies indeed go through cycles, it means that no company starts out inherently bad – not even the corporation you hate most in the world. In fact, corporations begin their life cycle in a first stage called the honest era.

Think of it this way: a newborn company is just like a baby – young, innocent and also quite weak. To survive its first years, the company can’t afford to play dirty; it has to convince its employees that the business is worth their efforts, and convince its consumers to give up their time and money.

Companies eventually become deceptive, and then try to apologize for it.

Keeping your company steady during the efficient era is all well and good, but, as time goes by, it becomes all to tempting to drift over to the dark side. This is exactly what happens when a company enters the deceptive era.

This is typically when companies decide to relocate production to developing countries (turning to child labor if necessary), implement misleading advertising campaigns, employ deceptive tactics, offer exorbitant salaries to executives and so on.

Honest businesses don’t mess with their customers, or the truth.

The good news is there’s a way to remain in the honest era. How? Well, the companies who do manage to stay honest share seven core beliefs. The next blinks will break each of them down one by one.

First off, people count. As obvious as it may seem, companies are made of people, not parts; these people are valuable and deserve to be treated with respect. To remain in the honest era, companies must treat three kinds of stakeholders right.

To stay honest, be transparent, authentic and generous.

Another important step toward keeping your business honest is, unsurprisingly, becoming more transparent. Sure, transparency can be tough, but you’ll be doing yourself a favor! Why? Because transparency is an act of liberation.

Opting for full transparency is freeing. You can reinvest the time you’d otherwise spend concocting schemes and hiding secrets into optimizing your business. And consumers also are set free; they can engage with the company without speculating about its honesty, or lack thereof.

Quality will forge a connection with customers, and courage will push you forward.

There are two core values that every honest company needs, and the first one is a commitment to high quality. If you can achieve this, you’ll have a competitive edge, because quality speaks for itself.

When you make high-quality products, it’s clear that your company values its customers. And quality also builds credibility. A well-designed website, the packaging of products or the choice of paper for a business card may all seem trivial, but each one contributes to the image that customers have of an organization. Customers are likely to think to themselves, “If they care that much about such details, I can trust that they’ll care about me as a client.”

Go from consumer to company founder and create the change you want to see.

Now that we know how to do good, where do we begin? Start by acknowledging that the most powerful people are customers – and this means you are powerful. To break the cycle of good companies becoming bad, we have to learn to behave as consumers.

Think of your last trip to the grocery store. Did you pay attention to the origins of goods? What about sustainable packaging? If your eyes were only focused on the price tags, it’s time to make a change.

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What is People Over Profit about?

People Over Profit (2015) is your guide to capitalism, past, present and future. These blinks explain what really creates evil companies, and the principles that’ll guide you to create and grow a business with integrity.

People Over Profit Review

People Over Profit (2015) by Dale Partridge is a thought-provoking book that challenges the traditional mindset of profit-first business practices. Here's why this book is worth reading:

It presents a compelling argument for why putting people before profit is not only morally right but also the key to long-term success.
Partridge shares real-life examples of successful companies that have prioritized their employees and customers, showcasing how this approach leads to greater loyalty and profitability.
The book offers practical tips and strategies for implementing a people-centric business model, making it a valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Who should read People Over Profit?

Entrepreneurs hoping to shift their business activity onto a more ethical path
Consumers who intend to make their opinions count in the marketplace
Anyone eager to learn more about socially responsible business practices

About the Author

Dale Partridge is an expert on branding, consumer psychology and business trends. He is also a social entrepreneur, founder of Sevenly.org and StartupCamp.com.

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