Profit motive vs. LO LO23511

Brian Gordon (briangordon@livetolearn.com)
Tue, 7 Dec 1999 20:34:21 -0700

Replying to LO23491 --

John Gunkler wrote (about an executive who told him):

>"...it really doesn't matter to my lifestyle if I
>ever make another cent. We talk about it so much because it's the way we
>keep score." You see, he was saying, it's about self-esteem, about being
>successful, about doing the best job you can, about earning the respect of
>your clients and your peers, about self-worth. How much good did I do for
>society last year? It's hard to measure directly but, indirectly, it's
>measurable by how much money I made. Because money is what society gives
>me in return for providing a valuable service. It's my community's
>measure of my value and that's why it's important to me.

I really don't think that the amount of money an individual or
organization earns is an accurate measure of the contribution made.
Perhaps over the very long term, meaning many decades, it may be a
valuable measure, I don't know. Certainly, measuring your self-worth by
how much money you earn is not healthy - whether you earn a great deal or
very little. Also, I think there are many organizations and people that
have made ENORMOUS amounts of money while actually degrading humanity.
The Nazis, Michael Milliken (junk-bond king), and so on. How much good
one does for society is not measurable by your income, though it may be an
accurate value of the value that society places on you (professional
athletes).

As another contributor (Arnold Wytenburg) said:

>I have always shared in Peter Drucker's opinion that profit is part of the
>cost of doing business and not the reason for doing business. A business
>that focuses only on profit quickly becomes too short-sighted and
>narrow-minded to remain sustainable over time.

Please note that I did not intend to complain about profit - just the
pursuit of money is not, in my view, a worthwhile endeavor. I believe it
is actually unhealthy for individuals and society. It is much better to
focus on bettering yourself and society, and make sure that you are
solvent while doing so!

Brian

briangordon@livetolearn.com
Live to Learn
www.livetolearn.com

-- 

"Brian Gordon" <briangordon@livetolearn.com>

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