SynopsisThe article suggests that corporate uselessness can be highly profitable. Advisers and speakers often charge significant fees for non-productive services. Their value lies in maintaining the status quo rather than introducing change. Mandatory mindfulness sessions exemplify this trend of corporate masochism. The market rewards those who are inconspicuously useless for their pointlessness.Ever noticed how no B-school or Op-ed guru talks about usefulness? Ergo, it must be overrated. Indeed, the most profitable business model may be to be gloriously, flamboyantly useless. Consider the adviser to a consultant who charges a good pile of paise to explain why your company needs 'synergy workshops' that achieve nothing but the production of prettier PPTs. Or the corporate motivational speaker whose chief skill is converting oxygen into cliches that even ChatGPT will pass. Their very uselessness is the point. Their value is in their not disrupting (read: getting a new PoV, though).A useful employee fixes problems. A useless one provides no evidence that there are problems. In this context, the HR team that insists on mandatory mindfulness sessions at 4 p.m. is not misguided - it's pioneering the profitable frontier of corporate masochism. Economists might call this the 'uselessness premium'. Like luxury goods, its value lies not in utility but in conspicuous pointlessness. A diamond doesn't slice bread, yet it commands a price. Similarly, the executive who spends 3 hrs explaining why 'blue-sky thinking' requires a beige carpet is rewarded handsomely. The market rewards those who are inconspicuously useless. In the grand ledger of capitalism, the most efficient strategy may be inefficiency itself. Trust us when we say that, aloud. ...moreElevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea.Subscribe Now