Alan Jacobs, a humanities professor at Baylor University, recently directed our attention to a little-known passage from the writings of French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss.

Considered by many to be the father of modern anthropology, Lévi-Strauss often reflected on his travels to Central and South America in the 1940s and ‘50s with an eye toward the workings of consumer societies.

“In Martinique, I had visited rustic and neglected rum-distilleries where the equipment and the methods used had not changed since the eighteenth century. In Puerto Rico, on the other hand, in the factories of the company which enjoys a virtual monopoly over the whole of the sugar production, I was faced by a display of white enamel tanks and chromium piping. Yet the various kinds of Martinique rum, as I tasted them in front of ancient wooden vats thickly encrusted with waste matter, were mellow and scented, whereas those of Puerto Rico are coarse and harsh. We may suppose, then, that the subtlety of the Martinique rums is dependent on impurities the continuance of which is encouraged by the archaic method of production.

“To me, this contrast illustrates the paradox of civilization: its charms are due essentially to the various residues it carries along with it, although this does not absolve us of the obligation to purify the stream. By being doubly in the right, we are admitting our mistake.

“We are right to be rational and to try to increase our production and so keep manufacturing costs down. But we are also right to cherish those very imperfections we are endeavouring to eliminate. Social life consists in destroying that which gives it its savour."

~ Tristes Tropiques, Claude Levi-Strauss, 1955

That’s the beautifully expressed value of holding a mirror up to what happens when we do what we do in business – because the reflection in that mirror is what’s on your customer’s mind when they think about things like sustainability, quality, local or authenticity.