Our times demand that we widen our definition of “value creation”

To create Value is to create ‘human impact’, ‘functional impact’ and ‘larger impact’.

Consider the following scenarios:

• First, suppose one creates only functional impact, (achieving results, at the cost of human beings), then ultimatley, one destroys value. This happens typically when people are only process-oriented/ function-oriented. They kill human value because they disregard the person in a situation. In such cases, the cost, in the longer run, is very deep.
• Second, if one creates only human impact (excessive niceness without getting any work done), again, one ends up destroying value.
• Third, it is also possible that one might create both human impact and functional impact, but the larger or social impact may be negative, because one is doing the wrong thing. Notice that each of these three scenarios ends up destroying value rather than creating value.

So, value creation is about simultaneously creating all three levels of value – functional impact, human impact and larger impact.

For example, if you are a Maths teacher, you create functional value by teaching the subject. There is a human value that is created, which is, your students feel strong and confident to solve all sums.  You also create a larger value – because of what you have done, society is getting changed. That is why teachers are deeply respected, because their work has all the three levels of value.