Moral ambition – Am I wasting my talent?

You could not miss the ‘launch’ of Morele Ambitie (moral ambition, in Dutch), the new book by Rutger Bregman, a couple of weeks ago. It was everywhere, on TV, the radio and social media. The irritation towards the always pedantic Rutger was widespread. The ‘NRC’ and ‘Correspondent’ newspapers argued (in Dutch) about a columnists’ accusations towards Bregman, and personal views were shared by people who felt that they had been rebuffed. In the ‘Volkskrant’ newspaper (in Dutch), two consultants reflected on the fact that although they thought of themselves as idealistic, their idealism was about individual well-being instead of societal well-being (are you kidding me?).

In his book, Rutger – like all consultants everywhere – introduces a matrix with four quadrants. The axes that Rutger uses for this are an ambition axis and an idealism axis. The four categories are of course only relevant if you are so ‘talented’ that you have the luxury of choice. Rather painfully, Rutger does not include essential professions. Back to the matrix. Are you neither that ambitious nor that idealistic? Then you probably have a bullshit job. Are you very ambitious and not that idealistic? Then jobs in the Bermuda Triangle of talent (in Dutch, banking, consultancy and commercial law) are the most suitable. Are you idealistic but not that ambitious? Then you are probably Gen Z and do not want to join the capitalist rat race. Purpose is important for your (probably part time) job. And then there is the category which Rutger Bregman naturally puts himself in, which is also the category that he wants to draw people to and after which he has named his book: moral ambition. In 2022, Rutger wrote that morally ambitious people are driven by ambition and the belief that they can make a difference. They see winning as their moral duty.

Naturally, after all the media attention paid to Bregman, I also wondered which category I fall in. My  post-PhD career started in consultancy (not very idealistic, but ambitious). I have switched jobs. Have I become less ambitious? More idealistic? Or both? Let me first reflect on why I left consultancy. It was not because of moral ambition, but rather for self-preservation. Does it say anything about my level of ambition that I found the sacrifices to my social life that consultancy required too big?

Does it say anything about my level of ambition that I found the sacrifices to my social life that consultancy required too big?

At the same time, I might have thought the sacrifices too big because I got little in return for them (I’m not talking about money, but about the feeling of contributing to society). After that I started working for the NWO (Dutch Research Council). While working on distributing research funding is a crucial aspect of our academic system, I would still classify the work in the little ambition and little idealism job category. A lack of challenges was the reason to look elsewhere.

I solidly believe in education being the basis of a well-functioning and healthy society. At the same time, I not a big fan of children or teenagers so it was back to university for me. Purely based on the choice of my workplace and the impact that its societal relevance has on my job enjoyment and motivation, I guess I have to put myself in the idealistic group. I’m not arrogant enough to call myself morally ambitious and I thus fear that I am, in fact, wasting my talent… It is up to me to decide if I want to do something about this.