I am an ergologist ? I think, therefore I work.
Grk: Ergo: work; Logos: word or knowledge
I have a peculiar job - I am looking to to build knowledge of WHAT work is rather than simply HOW we do it ? the word is mine in this context (Though it has been used before but very sporadically.)
I am trying to look at many different styles of work as I can to see if we can begin to understand work as more than hygenic ? given the foundational shifts as we move away from the 70s and the end of the industrial age we still have not solved the greater issues of global work.
Work remains for many elusive or grey, crushing, boring; and that is a human frustration that leads to the political.
Where are the challenges? (They should be environmental), where is the purpose? (It should benefit the individual and the society - materially, spiritually, and mentally) can work have a soul? (An end to exploitation) how can we become we more satisfied? ? and this is a question of our material, spiritual, and mental needs ? I don?t see these as particularly philosophical questions ? but I do see them as worth grappling with.
I believe the key start with WHAT work is, and what it is to use, not HOW we work...
What do you think work is?
More than money?
More than satisfaction?
A social necessity?
A benefit enjoyed by too few?
A chance to grow?
Another boring week?
Let me know - I am looking to publish as many opinions as possible. Long, short, pithy, or argumentative please let me know...
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More by John Montgomery Rouse, Managing Director, Business Intelegant |
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Comments: 35
Whenever you're aware of a "need", there's a chance it can turn out to become your next job, if you're smart enough to service this "need".
Most humans are lazy but here's the twist, they work so hard to get to the point where they live the "easy life" that from the outside, the laziest are often seen as the ones who work the most!
Work is whatever you do when you're not looking after your basic, human needs, wether it's paid or not.
We are on a rock hurling through endless space. Work helps keep us busy so we don't go crazy thinking about our cosmic journey.
Cheers,
Colonel Possum
Colonel, this made me roar with laughter when it turned up in my inbox... you might be onto something here...
As Seneca said:
There is no genius free from some tincture of madness...
Laziness and boredom are natural resistances to work; and depends on how well and creatively the human resources are utilized.
Unfortunately, whether we gain that state of nirvana or not is more a function of who we work for than of ourselves. If we work independent of others, whether we succeed in making work so rewarding is a function of our upbringing.
There are a set of whats, whys and how tos which any boss can use to cause employees to unleash their full potential of creativity, innovation, productivity, motivation and commitment, all of which originate in a person's brain. I have proved the efficacy of these whats, whys and how tos in effecting four successful turnarounds of management disasters so I know they work.
Best regards, Ben
Author "Leading People to be Highly Motivated and Committed"
One of the biggest problems with education prior to university is that it fails to give us multiple horizons: the horizon is either too wide and so very confusing; or has narrowed down to one field - which the person cannot find the right kind of work in.
This is a strange connundrum -- there are actually not that many types of work available -- ans most of those that we would call the best work are professional ones -- vet, surgeon, engineer, architect, lawyer, auditor, etc; etc;
Mmmm...
Ben... simply going to buy that book!
Clear Goals + Effort = Success
Effort without goals is speactacular by in a a WOW! What's that firework type way
And goals without efforts are dreams
And laziness rots the character...
The spirit that moves our passion knocked and enterred gracefully or came in to deliver a just karma. Ergology is the content of word that moves us to action, even if that is to rest and seek sustennance or recreation leading to desire to continue seeking improvement. Direction toward improvement is pursuit of perfection, and although she always outruns us it is good to agree that she has a beautiful ass.
The work (task) itself is more tolerable, and even enjoyable, if you have at least some ownership in what it is you are doing. I don't mean that in a monetary or property way. It has to have some value to the person internally as well. If not, work becomes toil.
There is also something to enquire into and to learn from the activities of the students and independent professionals: Why are they generally more productive than regimented workers? The best of creative work can hardly be extracted out workers through a regimented and time-scheduled framework.
Now I am NOT suggesting that entrepeneurs and corporations are not as satisfying as money earnt through own enterprise - rather that we need to senure that corporations and enterprises educate and value and empower workers so that they feel like it truly is their own income - rather than wages.
It is a complicated issue - but one thing remains true -- no-one wants to work if they feel there work is being taken advantage of...
work = protection
work = shelter
long ago they called it surviving........life....
how much, how hard and what to wotk at is up to the individual........
but we all do some form of it ...those today in this world who never have to worry for them selves or kids about food,shelter...protection.......work at something {most of em anyway}......it`s in the humane drive system
thats my take anyway
And those with the most comfortable jobs -- doctors, lawyers -- got paid the most.
It took me time to realize that brains pays more than brawn - because they solve problems -- and use creativilty and verve to do so. However, what happens when no-one wants to dig a road anymore -- then, we must assume in classic economics -- their skills will be worth more...
I am not at all convinced that all politicians become politicians to rob the people -- I do believe that many are and continue to be men and women who felt a calling to build a better nation and a better world.
Genuine unemployment, paternity leave (My wife get 2 yearsof 80% of her original pay by the Government, and all organizations and companies must hold jobs open to return for 7 years) is viewed with great sympathy and a lot of money is spent of ensuring training, education, even life coaching for the unemployed -- a VERY positive approach that avoids the costs of alcohol, drug, and mental illness caused by disordered work. (Don't even get me started on the hospitals -- 90% free and the waiting times are genuinely non-existent. All three children - free, Father-in-Law heart operation free etc; etc;)
That's one of the reasons I am happy to pay 38% tax. We having a saying in Sweden:
it is impossible to be poor here... but it is also impossible to be rich...
I used to believe that too John but then I realized that's not necessarily true. It's a lot of hard work, very long hours and incredible responsibility to be a doctor or to run an organization.
In fact, I think I worked harder than any garbage man the two years I went back to school for my MBA as a single mother by night, while working as a customer service manager by day for a company that was going through a major merger. Yes, I sat on my butt a lot - in a comfortable chair at a nice desk or while attending the many meetings I had to go to ... but I rarely slept.
And now, after spending 20 some years in management, with my own and another company, I've left the rat race, the headaches and the responsibility of managing other people and I'm doing a completely different job, making far less money, but working physically harder than I ever have in my life. I come home and my body is exhausted. But my mind can shut down and I don't have to worry about anything job related until it's time to go back to work again.
*by the way, sorry for reposting the comment again.
But I had to prove myself to get in and stay in. For the first three months I was on academic probation and had to maintain a B average, because as an an undergrad, I was not nearly as focused or determined and eeked by with a high C. If I had known that those days would eventually come back to haunt me when I was older and serious about education, I would have applied myself better.
But then again, sitting in board room managing a company is far easier than standing in an operating room with someone's life in your hands!
Not entirely. In a capitalist economy labor is treated as a commodity and we reward work on the basis of scarcity rather than merit. There are simply fewer people that can throw or hit a 95 mph fastball than can collect garbage, teach school or complete law or medical school. Iron is less expensive than gold simply because there is more of it.
I have no easy answer for this expect capitalism is a VERY loaded word.
It ceased to mean an economical definition of work after John Stuart Mills and from Schumpter through to Keynes only a very naive person would say capitalism is the best possible of all possible imagined systems and the total answer to the modern world.
However: it has produced two things: enormous scientific benefits in terms of lie-expectancy and general improvement in standards of living,(and the ups and downside of materialsm go hand in hand; but so dfoes responsiblity)
and secondly, consumers don't keep things, things aren't built to last and the environmental cost in aluminium alone (As you are aware the most common mineral on the planet and one of the most difficult to extract from bauxite etc; people - recycle you save at least 90% of the energy costs of making new alumium ingots - it is now one of the most popular targets for international crime in India and China) is ENORMOUS.
Capitalism is really a dead word as it is too divisive: we need a new word that drives commerce and business and flows of economies as positive markers for progress...
I agree with the last paragraph of your comment. I felt any discussion of work needed a little clarifacation of how the rewards are calculated.
To return to the questions you pose at the end of your article, the short and simple answer is yes to all.
Work can and should serve every level of the pyramid that represents Maslow's (?) heirarchy of needs. At the base level we work for the most elementary of needs, a paycheck. We work to survive. At the highest level work can infuse our lives with the meaningfulness that makes living a joyful experience.
Abe Maslow is a very astute man and a good kicking off point to discover Hertzberg, Action Learning, Managerial Grid etc;
I find it a little coy: as it suggest that all other things must be in place before life is self-actualized. I am not so sure.
THe Coaching Model simply says "I don't care about your past but I do care about your future - where do you want to go" and this makes the Maslow Pyramid irrelevant.
On the Intelegant website there is flash movie guide to 125 gurus with photos - why not take a look the link is here
""I don't care about your past ....." reminds me of a metaphor that Wayne Dyer uses in "Power of Intention" about steering a boat...
You are on a boat. You are steering. As you look back over the transom you see the wake unfolding behind you in a straight line as far as you can see. You could continue to steer the boat in a straight line by looking behind you at the wake. If you turn around and look ahead, you see a clear open sea. You can turn right, you can turn left, you can steer clear of the rocks that may lie in your path, you can go where you choose, regardless of where you have been. The straight course behind need not determine where you choose to steer the boat.
Or something like that.
I believe there should be a more equitable pay scale for those who do service jobs.
I just watched the Star Trek movie, First Contact. In that movie the Commander relates how no one gets paid for their work. Everyone works for the common good. What a concept!
Being a sculler we ad one of that ilk:
Moving forwards by looking backwards...
Thank you. I read Nickel and Dimed here in Sweden some 3 years ago and thought it brilliant. Yes, I work with global corporations, yes, I believe in productive and profitable work; but I do believe that expoitation should not be part of the share price. Companies who deliberately choose to bolster their profit margins by depriving people of a living wage are supplying slavery not jobs.
Could people say "No, thank you" to the lowest paid work, well, evidently and empirically they don't. But when the job doesn't enable you to better your circumstances - is it really work - or is it simply using the human as a machine, a thing to be used up. Yes; it IS a job, but it does nothing to increase the moral and social worth of any nation.
Sweden has very strong laws on minimum wage, which are enforced rigorously. It's not perfect but it does seem effective.
Working for the Common Good is a valid point!