How to do well by doing good

WHAT is better? When you have the power to influence one of the world's most concentrated populations of geniuses, that philosophical question takes on some very real consequences. Professor Rafael Reif is the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where some of the most intelligent students in the world mingle with astronauts and Nobel Prize winners along infinite corridors. That wealth of talent compels Prof Reif to direct his charges toward doing better. And so, back to the original question: What is better?

For Prof Reif, doing better means fearlessly embracing oversized ambitions and attacking some of the most daunting, pressing and challenging problems of our times. But above all, better is knowing the difference between doing well and doing good.

"Personally, I always felt that it's better to try to do good with whatever talents you have," Prof Reif says. "If you do something good, it's almost permanent. When you accomplish something good and society benefits, it's not going to go back, or typically doesn't go back. If you try to do well for yourself, maybe I'll be more comfortable, instead of having two cars I'll have three or four cars or maybe a yacht or something. But it doesn't bring any irreversible benefit to society. So I prefer the doing good part."