Money is just a metaphor
My relationship with my own money is usually played out in front of a screen. I spend a lot of time in front of our family budget spreadsheet, and sometimes I’m on my bank’s website or at an ATM, where I also interact with my money on screens. It’s a virtual relationship and I’m certainly not “in love” with my money. Occasionally I “spend money” by swiping a plastic debit card somewhere. Every once in a while I write on a piece of paper called a “check” to indicate that I am paying someone for something. It’s even more rare for me to touch and feel actual paper money and coins that I hand over to someone else in exchange for something I value.
It’s almost like money itself doesn’t really exist. It’s always just “out there” in some kind of an electronic neverland that probably resembles the set of Yo Gabba Gabba!.
It’s strange, but money really has become more of an idea than it is a real, tangible thing… And, if you’re like me, you like the thought of having more of this particular idea. You want those numbers to be bigger, have more digits, and maybe a comma (or two or three (yeah right)) in between them.
I’m guessing that the majority of us in business would agree that profit isn’t a bad thing, and we would all agree that businesses need to make money in order to stay in business. Money itself isn’t inherently good or bad. It can be used for plenty of good, like supporting families, paying the bills, and rewarding people who make a positive impact in our lives or the lives of others. It can also be used for lots of evil too, mind you.
However, it’s hard for me not to feel like many people in business are bound by this concept of money, instead of freely living to do more good for more people.
The problem is a lack of focus. Our focus can never be solely on the numbers themselves. We should never forget that all those numbers on a screen always need to be connected back to humans – real people living out their lives. We are put here on this earth to do good for others, to use our gifts and talents to serve other human beings. THAT’S where our money comes from. How quickly we can forget that money is a result of people saying ‘thank you’ to each other for a job well done!
Our role at Forty is to make sure that companies are doing the right things to connect with people on a human level. We want to help businesses communicate the good that they are doing in a way that gets people excited about their work. When more people are genuinely interested and excited about a company, that company will make more money to do more good for more people.
How does your company stay focused on people instead of numbers?
*photo credit – Martin Weller
I just bought something with Amazon one-click, where a button represents a debit card transaction, where a piece of plastic represents numbers in a bank database, which represent monetary value I theoretically have but which the bank has loaned out to someone else, which represents dollars, which are pieces of paper that represent a promise that they’re equivalent to precious metal (although they’re not anymore), which metals are rare and beautiful but don’t actually serve much practical value.
So, yeah. Money’s weird.
Here’s a guy who stood on the UW campus in Seattle with the sign:
‘MONEY IS NOT REALLY REAL”
http://signsonthequad.blogspot.com/2011/02/money-is-not-really-real.html
Wow, this is a middle case white blog post if ever there was one! haha.
I have to admit I feel the same. But I think that if you think of money as an abstract thing that isn’t really real, then you have enough of it to be happy. I’m sure the people who don’t have it see any scrap as very real. Sorry, to be a downer. :(
On topic… It’s often been proven in business studies that employees get the most satisfaction from praise. If you have kids you’ll know this also.
I agree, it’s probably all a matter of perspective. Everyone has a different ‘relationship’ with money. However, I think part of my point here is that we will never be really satisfied, no matter how much money we have in our bank accounts, unless we shift our focus from money back to people.