I used to think that people pick from three different categories when they are trying to pick a job: money, title, or empire. Depending on the person, they may order them differently. I thought of them as distinct, but it is simply your level in a Fiat hierarchy.

MONEY

Money is the most obvious Fiat benefit, but it is also force.

You get,

• More buying power.
• The prestige of getting paid more than your peers.
• A greater sense of security, accompanied by a greater fear of losing it.

Money is a function of hierarchy. The higher up you go in the hierarchy, the more you get paid. Some people have figured this out: I have a friend who will not take any job that pays him less than what he is currently earning. That is his only priority when it comes to any job. He will always discount title and empire.

I come from the software industry and a common lament by programmers is that the way to get paid more is to become a boss. Even in companies that make way for programmers to get paid more, bosses still earn more. In fact, it is considered very peculiar for a boss to be paid less than a subordinate. There are exceptions, but a boss has to be paid more than their highest paid subordinate. That’s how the hierarchy works.

TITLE

In many ways, using “title” acknowledges the game that is played. If you are Senior Director or Vice President, then even if you do not have many people under you, it’s grounds for getting paid more. Because your title.

I have another friend who is CEO of a business, and I cannot help but notice his pride when he says that he is “the CEO.” He does not pay himself that much, but he definitely cherishes the title. And it makes sense, in our society, CEOs can be elevated to rock star status. As some CEOs get paid three hundred times more than the lowest paid employee, you can imagine the emotional import of that title. You, as CEO, are potentially hundreds or thousands times paid more than most other people in your business.

Title bears the same property of hierarchy that seeking money does. If you go from being a Senior Director to a Vice President, your competence or direct power over others is unimportant. At the end of the day, you will get paid more. In our current Fiat hierarchical system, that’s all that counts.

People who compete for a given title are competing for a higher place in the hierarchy. We may not all be fluent with all the titles in play, but we all know that “CEO” is way at the top.

EMPIRE

Empire is the amount of people under you, creating wealth for the owners. Regardless of your current title, the more people who work for you, the better. This will eventually, you hope, lead to bigger titles and more money.

I remember my father took pride over being a Senior Director at Sun Microsystems when he was at the head of a large group. He did not seek the Vice President title because of the extra dog-eat-dog politics. So he favored a relatively modest title, but a large group of subordinates to “to protect’.

Empire, too, is directly tied to hierarchy. To have a big empire, you need to be high up. There is no avoiding it. You will be paid highly and given a lofty-enough title. People are going to be impressed that you had three hundred people working for you, regardless of your competence or if you showed up as a “good” or “bad” boss.

Fiat Hierarchy

Money, titles, and empire are not independent variables. They are all aspects of the Fiat system.

Very few people say I want to be high up in a hierarchy. It is a little too abstract and somewhat crass.

I know my parents definitely eschewed “title” and favored “empire&lrquo; as I was growing up. That was a value system that passed on to me. Only recently has it become obvious that we are ultimately it all comes down to position in the Fiat hierarchy.