I grew up believing that money had the potential to cause a lot of problems. Not having enough. Having too much. Always wanting more. Measuring relationships by it. The unstated obligations and ensuing misunderstandings, especially across cultures.
But I couldn’t avoid it. As they say, money makes the world go around. I decided to deal with it as rationally as possible. To earn enough, save enough, spend enough, give enough. And to regularly take a deep look at what ‘enough’ means.
I’ve always had a thing for challenging my preconceived ideas. When I left the academic world, though, I drew the line at working in finance. I settled instead for a job in the nuclear power industry – an industry I had some doubts about but in a company that seemed to be tackling issues responsibly. As I progressed in my career, I avoided taking on jobs that seemed to be explicitly aimed at making profit for the organisation. I tweaked each of my roles, focusing on what made more sense to me: reducing nuclear proliferation, debunking misconceptions about nuclear power, resolving contractual conflicts, building bridges across organisational silos, developing teams.
For someone who had decided to deal with money rationally, I admit that there was a fair amount of irrationality in my aversion to finance. How did I expect the company to keep its factories open and its operations running safely, hiring tens of thousands of people – including myself until recently – without making at least a small profit? And if I thought that its raison d’être, its reason for existing, was on balance beneficial for society, why was I so reluctant to contribute to that?
I’m still exploring how I think and feel about money, in conjunction with the ‘yes and’ of profit and purpose. What I can say for now is this: just as I believe in a world in which each of us earns enough doing work that matters, so do I believe in a world in which every organisation makes enough profit serving society.
How is your relationship with money?