Being careful what we sign up to.

When we start to make our way in the world, we sign up for something. If it's our own business, it might be an idea. If it's an organisation, it might be a set of values. When we start, we convince ourselves that our values and the values of the organisation are compatible. We all need to make a living, and the compromises that we make depend on our circumstances.

The reckoning comes later when the realities bite.

The business that we started with friends, based on friendship, gets entangled with banks and investors. We joined an established company based on its recruitment blurb and the warm induction programme, and then it shows its authentic colours under pressure.

The organisation we joined for the love of the work tests us to the limit when it comes under pressure. We've seen a lot of this in the last year and understood just how real what we signed up to is.

Manchester United fans signed up to the club and bought the idea that people with money but no connection to the club would im…