God blessed mankind and commanded mankind to be fruitful. You should be interested in playing the productivity game in the long run. Productivity is the modern day equivalent of “fruitfulness”. You should not be playing the money game or the status game. Your productivity is what matters in the long run. We make a mess of our status when we lack the productivity that ought to be associated with it. Imagine meeting someone that claims to be a farmer, but owns no farm. Chasing money and status in the society at the expense of true productivity will steer the society towards mediocrity-induced poverty.
CNBC reported in July 2022 that Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, is concerned that the productivity of their company as a whole is not where it needs to be for the head count they have. He said, “(We need to) create a culture that is more mission-focused, more focused on our products, more customer focused. We should think about how we can minimize distractions and really raise the bar on both product excellence and productivity.” The most important thing a business tracks should be their productivity. Not the number of employees. Playing a status game leads to poor decision making. You start to look for ways of impressing people, rather than doubling down on your work.
Your long-term success and prosperity is tied to your productivity. If you obsess over titles and status, you can fool some people for a while. However, the truth will catch up with you. Chasing money and status will create more problems for you down the road. There is no replacement for productivity. When you improve your productivity, the money and the status associated with it, will come to you. Your work will demand the recognition that befits it. Do not be the author that is yet to embrace the discipline required to author a book. Do not be the PhD degree holder that does not possess any sophisticated knowledge about anything in their soul. Do the work first. The status and the money will show up.
