True Story.
I occasionally have lunch at an undisclosed location very close to TheCodeFactory. I was gathering change to pay the $6.77 and pulled out a $5 bill, loonie, 3 quarters and gave the money to the cashier. I then proceed to search for two pennies to complete the transaction. I handed in the two pennies and was ready to go on my way.
The cashier then said “That will be $6.77”.
I said “I gave you $6.77.”
She showed me her hand and there was only $5 bill and 52 cents. I was certain that I had provided 3 quarters so I said, “Well what’s in your other hand?”
She showed me her other hand and there was a loonie and toonie. I had mistaken a toonie for a quarter and paid too much. I am guessing that this person thought if they could get me to give them another quarter they could pocket the toonie for themselves. I took back the toonie and gave her a quarter and didn’t think much of it.
After reflecting on it I thought, HEY WTF! Had she quietly taken the $1.75 extra I never even would have noticed the mistake. By trying to get the whole toonie she lost the $1.75 she could have had.
Not sure what the lesson is here but I am sure there is one.
From my perspective I’ll be keeping a close eye on my change at this particular place and am blogging about the experience.
Ian Graham
Filed under: Featured, Ottawa by Ian
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… Making money being evil is evil.
Thanks for that sentiment Kneale Mann. Kneale had tweeted that some time ago and I often reflect back on that thought. Money in and of itself isn’t evil … go figure. However, I sometimes encounter the sentiment that for profit and social venture is mutually exclusive. Somehow making money is evil and implies that you are only in it for the money.
I am a huge supporter of ethical capitalism. If you are in business then you are in business to make money. Customers exchange their money for your service or product and that is all good. If you are making money at it even better because that means you are providing value. A for profit business can be a social venture and help to create wealth and value for the local/global economy.
Over the course of my two week holiday I have spent a bit of time reading a number of innovation reports. Interestingly enough the Legatum Prosperity Institute ranks the relative prosperity of 233 nations (Canada is 7 by the way … we can do better but that topic is for another day) on nine sub-indices. One of the sub-indices is Economic Fundamentals. For the 90% of countries that have achieved the minimum level of monetary success more money does not significantly improve quality of life. However, for those bottom 10% of countries that have not secured the minimum level of success then nothing but money will improve the quality of life. If you think money isn’t the most important thing then try living without it.
Some of the most successful entrepreneurs turn philanthropist after achieving success. Through their creation of abundance they help others. Abundance is a great thing … scarcity creates problems.
I firmly believe that an organization can be both for profit AND a social venture,
Ian Graham
Filed under: Featured, Innovation, The Code Factory by Ian
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