The Secret of Life

PF+A Director of Strategy John Hibbs works with students to educate, inspire and engage the next generation of thinkers, not only in how to become an architect but in how to build a successful business, whether it’s designing houses or selling lemonade on the side of the road.

Let’s take a five pound note for example. We believe it holds a certain value that can be traded throughout the world for goods and services. The government have declared it legal tender but without the statutory title, a note or a cheque is worth next to nothing - a flimsy piece of paper at best. So, why do we put such great worth onto what is essentially the pressed pulp of wood?

Go back 500 years and the world was a very different place to today. Most people were born, lived and died in the same place expecting to perform the same jobs as their parents. And the economy was very much based on trading commodities with like-for-like intrinsic values. Life was simple, and few people questioned if there was anything more.

But in 1492, the discovery of America sparked the change in global economics.

The new continent brought with it a new hope. If they had no idea about a quarter of the earth’s land mass, what else had they been missing? This huge discovery provoked people to start questioning their long held beliefs. As wealth, trade and commodities started pouring in from the Americas, the public recognised that there was more to life than the drudgery of everyday. People began to invest in the future with the belief that tomorrow could be better; this saw the beginning of global growth.

Today, the world has evolved to be based on trust. Almost everyone believes that another day will bring them closer to what they want. We can see this as people are happy to borrow money, use credit cards and even the most cautious people are willing to take out a mortgage. Contemporary legal tender no longer has any intrinsic value, it is just a piece of paper or the number in a bank account. Our whole economy relies on trust; money is not a tangible object, but rather an idea we are all exposed to.

As much as with money, business equally bases itself upon trust. These same principles can be transferred across anything in life. You cannot see or touch the love of your family, you just trust that they do and it’s there. Likewise, PF+A is only a business because everyone believes it is. It is not something that can be pointed at, but a group of people that all believe that what we do together is worth something to others.

Trust and belief pervade all aspects of our lives today. In fact it lays the foundations for our whole existence. If you live in a house, went to school, work for a business, support a football team or ever use money then you to are abiding to the laws of trust whether you have noticed or not. Trust is the secret of life and once you realise that, everything appears a lot more promising.

John loves inspiring the future stars of tomorrow about business and all other aspects of life. If you would like him to come and talk to your people, please contact us.