We are given all sorts of justifications by those who have to deliver bad job news to us. “I tried everything I could to prevent it.” “I did my best.” It’s just the world we live in.” “It’s not what I wanted, but [insert name or circumstance] is forcing me to do this.” “We’ve decided to go in a different direction.”
Perhaps the most cynical of these explanations is, “It’s not about the money.” This explanation typically precedes a person providing the justification for a difficult decision by couching it in the noble language of altruism or the greater good. Indeed, there are many noble reasons for making difficult decisions. And hopefully we will always adhere to the most honorable ones when weighing our choices. But painful experience and close observation of human nature has led me to adopt Earlyism #2:
Earlyism #2: When they say it isn’t about the money, you can be certain it’s about the money.
Sometimes we reveal our deeper motivations precisely in the act of denying them. Often this revelation is a function of our guilt or at least our suspicion that our motives in taking a difficult action aren’t entirely pure (a suspicion usually well-founded). The classic example is the child who’s told to keep out of the jar of chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen. A little later, he presents himself to his parents in the living room with a mouth smeared with chocolate, noting helpfully, “I didn’t eat any cookies.”
The Squealing Pig Effect
Not all of our administrative decisions are motivated by financial concerns. But some are. We should always be introspective when assigning motives to our difficult decisions. Otherwise, we will reveal darker motives even in the act of claiming more honorable ones. We might call this phenomenon the Squealing Pig Effect. Guilty pigs squeal, and the guiltiest pigs squeal the loudest.
Here are a few other examples. Though these examples happen to come from public life, all professions are liable to this kind of self-deception:
- “I am not a crook.”
- “I am not a racist” [or insert any of a variety of discredited perspectives here, such as “homophobe,” “abuser,” or “addict.”]
- “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”
What causes the Squealing Pig Effect? Primarily, it occurs when in an unguarded moment we mention a thing that is top-of-mind for us even as we attempt to distract others (or ourselves) from believing that thing’s relevance to the matter at hand.
In higher education administration, we are always concerned with budgets and with managing limited resources. But that isn’t all administrators are concerned with, and wise decision making must always take into account a myriad of factors. Money is one of those factors. So is the well-being of others. But we must be careful when telling others that our decisions aren’t influenced by money. Moreover, if we don’t consider the financial implications of our leadership decisions, it won’t be long before we’re out of business or at least out of a job. Instead, it’s more relevant to keep in mind that the decision isn’t only about the money.
What to Say Instead
It’s best not to use the expression, “it’s not about the money.” Regardless of what you mean by that, you will imply that it is in fact about the money, and you’ll probably imply it’s mostly about the money. Instead, tie your decision to your university’s mission statement: “This change is a better fit for our mission because. . . .” “Our mission requires that we reevaluate. . . .” After all, the mission statement should be ground zero for all of your biggest decisions anyway. Cynics will still accuse you of hedging. But in difficult situations, those people will accuse you of prevarication no matter what you say. Instead, the best you may be able to do is to communicate which values matter the most to you when you make decisions. And your school’s mission statement is a great place to start.
P.S.–What if it really is about the money? What if the reason you won’t agree to a proposal is simply that your institution can’t afford it? Shouldn’t you go ahead and simply say that? Yes, but don’t say only that. Even in cases when finances are the main reason for saying no, it always helps to tie those decisions to the institutional mission statement as well.
I suppose a good corollary to Earlyism #2 could be: “Everyone always has a better idea of how to spend your money than you do.” No matter how sound a financial manager you are, your colleagues will always be willing to find better ways of spending your budget than you have. But keep in mind that your colleagues probably won’t be held accountable for how you spend your budget. Instead, you will. So make sure that, regardless of whether your answer to a budget request is yes or no, you can objectively tie your decision to some aspect of the mission.