A Different Kind of Update pt 2
October 31, 2001
Following up on my last update, if someone chooses a job they do not feel passionate about then the only thing that motivates them is fear. Fear that they can’t pay the bills, fear that they can’t buy the latest software or hardware or clothing or food, fear that they will be looked upon as not successful, fear that they will be looked down upon by others who choose they path. They may strive for the money but will they be good workers?
Other than the minimum, why would they choose to work more? Is it for the promotion? Is it for the 2% pay increase each year? A company can throw benefit after benefit in efforts to motivate their employees so that they become more productive. You have pension benefits, insurance, company picnics, company cars. All these things add up to something like 25-50% of labour costs I believe. The goal is to motivate their employees – does it work?
I will argue that they do not. If you don’t feel passionate about the work, why would throwing in some more money or benefit make you think otherwise? Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. That book explains a whole lot better what I mean that people work out of fear.
The other side of the yard is that if someone feels motivated about what they’re doing, there’s no need for the benefits – well, actually, the benefits make the job even better. But the person is doing the job for its intrinsic value, not economic value. The difference is if a person loves their job, the extra incentives create a positive value for the worker – that is, the numerical value of their happiness increases. If a person does it for pay, they only tolerate the job up to a certain value – adding incentives only makes a negative value less negative. I guess in this model it is possible to create a positive job given enough incentives – who knows. I’m not a model modelist.
Do I sound like a raving madman? I feel that I’m speaking the unspoken or the opposite of all that people hold true.
I’m not bashing any particular field of work either. What I don’t like may be the driving force of passion for another person. That’s what makes this world great – diversity. Otherwise, everyone would would want to be astronauts cause you know that is the best job in the world – or out of the world.
