What Money Can't Buy/ Why I am Leaving Goldman Sachs

Actual Text

1) "These three cases- of nuclear waste siting, charitable fund-raising, and late day-care pickups- illustrate the way introducing money into a nonmarket setting can change people's attitudes and croud out moral and civic commitments."

2) "Today, many of these leaders display a Goldman Sachs culture quotient of exactly zero percent. I attend derivatives sales meetings where not one single minute is spent asking questions about how we can help clients. It’s purely about how we can make the most possible money off of them. If you were an alien from Mars and sat in on one of these meetings, you would believe that a client’s success or progress was not part of the thought process at all."

Responses

1) I was perplexed to see that adding monetary rewards or disciplines, in the day care example, actually swayed people's moral sentiments in the opposite way it was intended to. I would think that people would agree more to the nuclear plant, for example, because they would be gaining some money reward for doing so, however, that was not the case. Rather, they saw this as more of an incentive for them to disagree with the plant than they did in the first place, minus the money! The group of children selling for charity that were paid did a worse job then those who weren't paid because of the feeling of moral obligation rather than work. And the parents who left their kids late, after implementing a penalty fee continued to leave them at a higher rate then before! I had never thought about money making people act as such I really thought it would be a motivator instead. When it comes to civic commitments I now know that money really cannot win here.

2)How can such a big and well known firm lose its culture? It's very sad to see that the clients are really being abused here and not even treated like human beings. All they represent is a dollar sign. Business ethics teaches you to keep a culture with strong morals and respect, not only for your employees but your clients and the world as a whole. Goldman Sachs should be ashamed of putting money above all else. Money is supposed to follow an idea, a corporate mission, it is not supposed to be the main concern at all other expenses. I wonder how many other corporations are like Goldman and if they will ever be revealed or change.

More blog posts in this category Common

• The Wound & the Blessing/The Economy of Communion Project Post
• The Crest- Jewel of Wisdom & Work as a Spiritual Practice Post
• "What Money Can't Buy" Blog Post
• Blog Post Ni: FTRN Booklet & Arithmetic of Passion
• Work as a Spiritual Practice (The Transformation of Work)