Business Game Essays — Issue #6
Profit is important.
Let’s be clear about that.
Revenue matters.
Cash flow matters.
Staying solvent matters.
But profit is a lagging signal.
And treating it like a lighthouse can quietly steer you off course.
When a business feels stuck, the instinct is to look at the numbers.
“Revenue is flat.”
“Margins are tightening.”
“We need to optimise.”
So we tweak pricing.
Change messaging.
Push harder.
But often the problem isn’t financial.
It’s personal.
Many businesses don’t stall because they’re unprofitable.
They stall because the person running them isn’t motivated anymore.
Not lazy.
Not incapable.
Just misaligned.
The work doesn’t fit.
The game no longer excites.
The effort feels heavier than the reward.
And no dashboard shows that.
Profit can actually hide this.
Money keeps you going long after the signal is clear.
You tolerate work you don’t enjoy because it “pays well.”
You keep going because stopping feels irresponsible.
You optimise something you no longer care about.
From the outside, it looks like discipline.
From the inside, it feels like drag.
This is where people get confused.
They think the issue is focus.
Or structure.
Or burnout.
So they add systems.
But motivation doesn’t come from optimisation.
It comes from alignment.
The real benchmarks aren’t financial.
They’re internal.
Do you still want to play this game?
Does this work give you energy — or take it?
Would you choose this again if money were neutral?
If the answer is no, profit won’t fix it.
It will just delay the decision.
Profit matters.
But it’s not the north star.
It’s the result of someone playing the right game with enough conviction to stay engaged.
And when motivation is gone, the issue isn’t tactical.
It’s directional.
Stay in the game.