Sampo Yoshi is a philosophy meaning, “Good for the seller, good for the buyer, and good for society.” Developed during the Shogunate era (1185 to 1868), Sampo Yoshi traces its origins to merchants in Omi, an ancient province in central Japan that is now called the Shiga Prefecture. Due to merchants’ inherent contributions to the community, the Shogun permitted them to promote commerce in Omi. Chubei Itoh, who in the nineteenth century founded the Japanese trading company ITOCHU on the principles of Sampo Yoshi explained, “Trade is a compassionate business. It is noble when it accords with the spirit of Buddha by profiting those who sell and those who buy and supplying the needs of the society.”
Occasionally, we come across zero-sum thinkers who approach transactions with the mindset that someone will win and someone will lose. Of course, zero-sum thinkers want to perceive themselves as the winners, and some even delight in perceiving the other party as the loser. Often, this type of thinker will say “it’s business” to justify narrow, negative, destructive, dishonorable actions for myopic “wins” at the expense of envisioning and creating bigger, lasting value for the direct parties to the transaction and for other stakeholders. These zero-sum thinkers say “it’s business” as if “business” connotes a free pass to circumvent morality. Such thinking grossly mischaracterizes business. The next time you encounter someone trying to justify questionable behavior by saying “it’s business”, consider that his statement says more about him than it does about business. True business is good for the seller, good for the buyer, and good for society. Sampo Yoshi!
P. Gustav Mueller, author of The Present
Relevant Link:
Itochu