What's Enough?

Once upon a time, Joseph Heller and Kurt Vonnegut found themselves at a party hosted by a billionaire. During the course of the evening, Vonnegut looked over to Heller and said, “How does it feel to know that our host will make more money in a month than you’ll make in a year from the sales of your book?” Heller replied, “But I have something our host will never have.” Vonnegut naturally asked to what Heller was referring, and Heller said, “The knowledge that I have enough.”1

I read this story several years ago in an email newsletter. What is enough? Money, or one’s wealth, is just one thing, and at a time when we are debating what’s enough (or Kenough) because of the omission of “Barbie” from the Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Actress, this story and Heller’s certainty feel even more prescient of our challenges as a community and species.

Since day one, friends and colleagues have repeatedly said to me that I should say yes to work; consultants do not turn down work, especially when they are just beginning. You have to hustle, market yourself, do some humble bragging on social media, present at workshops and conferences, take every call and every flight or opportunity, even if it means a weekend or two away from family. You have micro-flexibility but lack the macro, i.e., I can choose to start my days at 9:30 or run a personal errand at 1pm but if the client needs me to present or facilitate on a Saturday at their board meeting, then travel I must. In this model, what’s enough? Jerry Stiller, Ben Stiller’s dad, and an icon by so many measures, said in his later years in a 2012 interview to The Daily News of New York, “‘I’ve never thought of stopping. The only time you ever stop working is when they don’t call you.’” Seems to me Mr. Stiller understood the consultant’s maxim.

But every few weeks, I think of Heller and Vonnegut, and as MehtaCognition has grown in a really short time, I’ve thought of that story and the question with more seriousness and depth. In no particular order, here are the few currently on my mind:

• How big do I want this team to grow?
• How many clients and partners can we effectively and successfully serve at any one time?
• What’s really an individual team member’s capacity?
• To whom, and to what, do we say no? Why?
• How will we know who we are? How will we know who we are not?
• In what do we take pride? What will we measure and how do we share it?
• Is there a revenue number when we hit it that we just say stop to new projects?
• Are we controlling our costs enough so we can retain the most freedom and flexibility to say yes on our terms?
• How will I know when it’s time to wrap up and move on?
• Besides the creative work and some pretty fabulous leaders and teams, what’s our motivation for this work?
• And, if MehtaCognition is first a lifestyle business, then besides work, what priorities does it afford our team?

I spent 12-weeks in 2023 in India, visiting with family and friends, connecting with new ones and reconnecting with the old; that’s more time in one year than in the prior ten years. In December 2023, I launched another venture that has no ties to MehtaCognition or my work as a leader in and with independent schools. A week ago, we announced the Impact Fund for Independent School Leaders, our way to give back a share of our profits annually to support the visionaries in our industry that lack the platform, resources, and opportunity to do the greatest good.

I know I’m somewhat on track to figure out what’s enough for me. I’m putting my happiness and fulfillment first; I’m growing MehtaCognition because I love the work and the people with whom we get to do this daily. I said yes to IndiaRooted because it connects me to my heritage, something I’ve largely neglected for the last two decades. I’ve built our Freedom Fund so I can remain values-centric, driven by the long-term, and say no to the people and projects that don’t bring me joy. This clarity has not been easy for me, and some of it is still hazy. There are questions, as you read above, that need answers. But, in those moments, when I feel overwhelmed with the questions and the lack of certainty to any of it, I return to our roots and I plant my feet firmly on the ground.