In last Wednesday’s post, I mentioned the news report of a professor who resigned over her beliefs regarding treatment of fellow employees. As a follow-up, I wanted to give a piece of advice for those students out there finishing up research papers or getting into arguments in places besides the classroom.
This is something I tell my classes when investigating issues: when someone adamantly claims something is a financial issue, it is more than likely an issue about beliefs instead. It is up to us as good thinkers and good researchers to discover what beliefs are driving those finances. For example, those who abhor taxation are probably not greedy misers who hate public spending. It’s not about the benjamins. Rather, they have a firm belief that confiscation of property is wrong, whether it is done by a burglar or a well-intentioned government. Arguing about the dollars and cents won’t go anywhere; argue the beliefs instead. In the case of Yeshiva University, it appears that they believe in temporary teaching and inadequate instruction for their students. The decisions in how money is spent seem to reflect that belief.
It’s an easy test anyone can do. I’ll show you: I don’t believe in smoking, so I devote zero resources to it. I greatly believe in eating chocolate donuts, so I devote lots of resources to their purchase. Look at a person’s credit card statement, or a university’s budget, and you will quickly see where beliefs lie.
In an example similar to the incident at Yeshiva, let me offer a quick anecdote.
I recently met two gentlemen at a dinner party who are in charge of a business. Their main frustration with their company right now is that they just don’t have the resources to expand—to hire great employees and grow a larger customer base. To make matters worse, not only are they unable to grow, they are actually dangerously close to going out of business. Walking this tenuous line has caused them great stress, as one could imagine. However, I came to discover, these two leaders of the company earn over $400,000 per year in combined salary. Now, this is not to say that they don’t deserve that level of income—I’m all for people grabbing as much as they possibly can. On the other hand, it seems rather contradictory to claim a dearth of resources when an abundance of assets are devoted to just two people’s salaries. If these men simply reduced their combined income by half, to a total of $200,000, still placing each of them among the wealthiest earners in America, they could hire five excellent employees at $40,000 and stimulate the business to grow exponentially. Last I heard, they haven’t adjusted their salaries.
This is a case of blaming finances when beliefs are the real culprit. These men are not devoid of resources. They believe they are worth that much money. And they may be! However, such men cannot simultaneously plead paucity. These men have devoted resources according to their strongest beliefs—that they deserve the most money—even though they are potentially placing direct harm upon their own company. Once again, there is nothing wrong with this as long as they are honest with themselves and those around them. But then they should not go around telling everyone how empty their pockets are and how the business can’t thrive. Clearly this is a situation in which beliefs are not aligning with company goals.
So let’s bring this back to academia. Yeshiva University, and hundreds of other colleges just like them, could very well make ends meet in a more efficient way. Teachers could take on larger teaching loads. Classes could get slightly larger to reduce facility strains. Administrators could take pay cuts, or better yet, administrative positions could be eliminated. (Now I’m really dreaming!) If schools truly believed in helping students reduce their tuition and improving their academic environment by hiring more qualified faculty, they could do it tomorrow.
But they won’t. They will talk instead about financial constraints or lack of subsidy. And they will ignore their misplaced beliefs.
That’s the lesson for you students out there: when someone talks a lot about money, ask what their beliefs are and see if they line up. If they aren’t putting their money where their mouth is, you may want to walk away.
It’s not about money. It’s about doing what you believe. What university out there will be the first to publicly take such a stand and lead the way to a new academic model?
This is something I tell my classes when investigating issues: when someone adamantly claims something is a financial issue, it is more than likely an issue about beliefs instead. It is up to us as good thinkers and good researchers to discover what beliefs are driving those finances. For example, those who abhor taxation are probably not greedy misers who hate public spending. It’s not about the benjamins. Rather, they have a firm belief that confiscation of property is wrong, whether it is done by a burglar or a well-intentioned government. Arguing about the dollars and cents won’t go anywhere; argue the beliefs instead. In the case of Yeshiva University, it appears that they believe in temporary teaching and inadequate instruction for their students. The decisions in how money is spent seem to reflect that belief.
It’s an easy test anyone can do. I’ll show you: I don’t believe in smoking, so I devote zero resources to it. I greatly believe in eating chocolate donuts, so I devote lots of resources to their purchase. Look at a person’s credit card statement, or a university’s budget, and you will quickly see where beliefs lie.
In an example similar to the incident at Yeshiva, let me offer a quick anecdote.
I recently met two gentlemen at a dinner party who are in charge of a business. Their main frustration with their company right now is that they just don’t have the resources to expand—to hire great employees and grow a larger customer base. To make matters worse, not only are they unable to grow, they are actually dangerously close to going out of business. Walking this tenuous line has caused them great stress, as one could imagine. However, I came to discover, these two leaders of the company earn over $400,000 per year in combined salary. Now, this is not to say that they don’t deserve that level of income—I’m all for people grabbing as much as they possibly can. On the other hand, it seems rather contradictory to claim a dearth of resources when an abundance of assets are devoted to just two people’s salaries. If these men simply reduced their combined income by half, to a total of $200,000, still placing each of them among the wealthiest earners in America, they could hire five excellent employees at $40,000 and stimulate the business to grow exponentially. Last I heard, they haven’t adjusted their salaries.
This is a case of blaming finances when beliefs are the real culprit. These men are not devoid of resources. They believe they are worth that much money. And they may be! However, such men cannot simultaneously plead paucity. These men have devoted resources according to their strongest beliefs—that they deserve the most money—even though they are potentially placing direct harm upon their own company. Once again, there is nothing wrong with this as long as they are honest with themselves and those around them. But then they should not go around telling everyone how empty their pockets are and how the business can’t thrive. Clearly this is a situation in which beliefs are not aligning with company goals.
So let’s bring this back to academia. Yeshiva University, and hundreds of other colleges just like them, could very well make ends meet in a more efficient way. Teachers could take on larger teaching loads. Classes could get slightly larger to reduce facility strains. Administrators could take pay cuts, or better yet, administrative positions could be eliminated. (Now I’m really dreaming!) If schools truly believed in helping students reduce their tuition and improving their academic environment by hiring more qualified faculty, they could do it tomorrow.
But they won’t. They will talk instead about financial constraints or lack of subsidy. And they will ignore their misplaced beliefs.
That’s the lesson for you students out there: when someone talks a lot about money, ask what their beliefs are and see if they line up. If they aren’t putting their money where their mouth is, you may want to walk away.
It’s not about money. It’s about doing what you believe. What university out there will be the first to publicly take such a stand and lead the way to a new academic model?