I watched a video by this guy named Al Bladez where he goes around various neighborhoods looking for yards, backyards, front yards, gardens, anything that looks totally unkept or overgrown. Then he offers to do some yard work for free while filming the transformation.

During one of the videos Al says “Impact over views.”

The statement caught me by surprise right away because I did not understand it at first, but it sounded great. It just kind of hit different. So I thought about it some more and then said to myself “that’s cool.”

Having worked in fintech, community, social, and everything in-between I have seen plenty of lust for clout and viewership. Finance is funny like that because it is already so competitive – it’s built around money, so by extension, you can assume that same competitiveness extends to all other aspects. The thirst by finance brands to get exposure, for brokers to be cool, for banks and tech companies to show off their cost of acquisition, to talk about how great their products are compared to everyone else. To some extent, I have even indulged in all of this myself.

I remember when The Rock retweeted something I had created or when Soulja Boy followed something our team was working on. At the surface level that kind of stuff sounds pretty cool and interesting. But deep down, like really deep, who cares.

What’s the impact? Did it help anyone? Was it a positive contribution at all? Not really.

To some extent, this is where ESG actually becomes pretty interesting to me. You can say you’re a capitalist all you want, or money over matter, and all those other trendy lines, but at a certain point, the vanity becomes exhausting. The fulfillment level remains empty. I’m not even sure it’s sustainable, which over the long term, is bad for business. It’s the same as chasing views and likes in the modern social media games.

Impact over views.

The rest will take care of itself.

Note: I don’t know much else about this Al Bladez, but he has cut a lot of grass and done a ton of free yard work.