In the world of entrepreneurship we generally consider ambition to be a powerful driving force behind our endeavours. In some circles, ambition is considered a bit of a dirty word, because of the association with material values. However, on Triple J’s Hack program last week Dave Marchese asked us how ‘morally ambitious’ we are.
To be morally ambitious is to strive to use your talent and skills to help solve the world’s problems. Dave’s guest was the author of the book Moral Ambition. His name is Rutger Bregman. And as far as he is concerned the vast majority of us are simply not doing enough to help save our planet.
What do we do with our time?!
We live in a world filled with intelligent and talented people doing jobs that Rutger thinks squanders these skills and talents. People who graduate from Harvard in the US most often go on to work in consulting or finance, since that is where the money is.
And he gets it. It can be challenging to devote your career to something that will contribute to the greater good, when you have bills to pay and the cost of living is an ever present concern.
In the interview, he suggested that for people in many developed countries we may not be in the top 1 % of income earners like ‘those billionaires’ but we are still in the top 2 or 3 %. So, we should have a fair bit of capacity to devote our talents to endeavours that will help solve our critical problems.
How best to achieve our moral ambitions?
As someone who has a history of acute moral ambition and wanting so desperately to help solve the world’s problems, I take heart in the fact that usually, it requires groups of people all working on the same thing to move the needle. To this end, Rutger’s website advertises fellowships and conferences, to form groups to work on the some of the world’s most pressing problems.
Since hearing the show, I can’t unhear it. Everything that I do professionally feels like a complete waste of time. Or at least not where my heart lies.
Rutger talked about entrepreneurs being some of the most crucial people in the network, because they make things happen and see opportunities to improve the world. He also said that you don’t learn to be an entrepreneur. You simply do the things that an entrepreneur does, and bit by bit you become one.
End of times?
The interview covered an interesting point about the ‘end of times’. Rutger suggested that Christians have been prophesying the end of times for a long time. It has been an ever present thread in our culture. In 2025, he thinks that it is as though the music is slowing down to bring us to a climax of our story. During our lifetimes we will be able to see how our story pans out.
We can sit back and watch it unfold. But it might not be a particularly enjoyable experience, if we continue to distract ourselves with these material concerns.
Are you a morally ambitious person? What is holding you back?