I recently sent through my “D2” draft on the use of the Hebrew wisdom tradition in Business Education. Professor Chris Mabey is mobilizing a number of us to challenge the secular status quo, and already has a publisher for a book due for release at the back end of 2014.

Over the last two weeks I have met with the three men I am currently mentoring on “Habits of the Heart”, two on our city centre course, one on our church course, and in particular listening to their life stories. A key question we have been focusing on is what do I want my life to count for?

Most businesses do their accounting quarterly. Jopie Coetzee (among others) has called for this to change to intergenerationally, and my discussion last week with John Lewis’ head of democratic engagement revealed the first company I have ever encountered which actually does this. But the Hebrew wisdom tradition focuses mainly on a single lifetime, and so too does the Habits course.

The story I heard yesterday was from a man who had mentally and emotionally given his life back to God as he was swept out to sea by irresistible currents. Until he heard his five-year-old daughter crying, “Hold on daddy. Don’t give up”. That kind of experience really focuses the mind, and really challenges the short-termism that plagues our contemporary western society.

We have thought a lot in our team about what “business” values we want to espouse ourselves. Intergenerational accounting is certainly one of them.