Frederick Herzberg in his 1959 book The Motivation to Work, gave an account of an address made by management guru Peter Drucker to The American Psychological Association in the 1950s. Drucker apparently suggested that an investigation of workers’ job attitudes was immoral and unjustified. He believed that it was nobody’s business but the worker themselves, how they felt about their job.
Articles on the subject of daily work and the role it should play in a healthy, happy, and worthwhile life as opposed to a daily grind and punishment which we choose to endure.
A Return to Craft Based Work
We don’t know how to use our hands and our bodies any more. We can’t make things, practical things. We don’t know how to grow food, to fix a roof, or build a wall. Some of us do, but many of us don’t. A return to making things by hand could be a route to that change, greater meaning and purpose, and a happier life.
All of A Sudden You’re There
We’re all going to leave this place. There’s nobody getting out alive, therefore, we have no option if we are to be happy in our work or any place else. So get into it, put the head down and the blinkers on…
7 Life Lessons From The Diary of a Stoic Philosopher
Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius is said to have penned Meditations during his time amongst the Quadi people on the banks of the River Danube. Their lands bordered the Roman Empire and Bohemia. Scholars consider his philosophical reflections historically and culturally significant even today, over 1800 years after they were written. Aurelius was born in Rome […]
Chomsky on Controlling Your Own Work
I listen and read Noam Chomsky regularly. I find his commentary on the structure of social order, economics, and politics right on point. The political establishment in the 60s and 70s didn’t like him very much, but these days they largely ignore him. The mainstream media no longer report his work. I listened to an audio clip of him talking about work. In it, he addresses the idea that people have the right to control their own work.
Enjoying Work For Its Own Sake
What stood out for me in this book was the constant reference to doing work for its own sake. The value in the detail of the work and its contribution towards happiness seemed immeasurable, and in fact, imperative in the achievement of success. Success appeared to be a by product for the people he interviewed. The never set out to be successful, they just enjoyed the challenge of the work.
The Anti-Business Model
I lay in bed last night, and as per usual, I was thinking about work. I had been watching a Noam Chomsky lecture on capitalism and the social order earlier in the evening. I wondered how each of us can go about creating work that matters, something that brings value to ourselves and others without the overbearing and often manipulative motivation to meet market need. I thought, how about…