How some people stay motivated at work when they don’t love their jobs(qz.com)
qz.com
How some people stay motivated at work when they don’t love their jobs
https://qz.com/999209/how-some-people-stay-motivated-and-energized-at-work-even-when-they-dont-love-their-jobs/
73 comments
There is also the faction of people who resent having to take a job they dislike and get nothing out of, simply as a means to provide for one's family.
I used to be married and that was my mindset. I knew if we started a family my resentment would be toxic, working a stressful job that you can't grow or learn from is horrible. Having people who don't do their jobs well depending on you all the time, then going home and having more people that depend on you all the time. That's just too much for me, I would break down quickly.
It makes sense to me that people ignore all that and just focus on providing for family, but I just don't know how to do that. If my job doesn't work for me, it colors my whole life.
It makes sense to me that people ignore all that and just focus on providing for family, but I just don't know how to do that. If my job doesn't work for me, it colors my whole life.
It's an idealist mindset vs pragmatic one.
Thank you for this. Well-stated.
Exactly.
As long as I'm in a field that I love (Software Engineering), and there's a demand is above supply for engineers I will always look for a job that lets me work on projects that are interesting. If after 2 years of employment I don't feel satisfied, I will look for a new job (even though I could stay and keep making money).
Or a means to get healthcare for chronic, pre-existing conditions.
I'm confused as to who he's writing for as it seems very obvious that many people get "motivated" for work they don't enjoy because they have to support their family.
Actually, what I find interesting about this is the post goes on to note that:
It wasn’t only parents who experienced family motivation. It also applied to unmarried and childless workers who defined their family as brothers, sisters, parents, and other relatives.
I'd love to dig into this more, but the paper is, of course, behind a paywall. I'm very curious if the people indicated, above, had to financially support their extended family, or if it was simply the need to be dependable and responsible, that created the motivation.
Actually, what I find interesting about this is the post goes on to note that:
It wasn’t only parents who experienced family motivation. It also applied to unmarried and childless workers who defined their family as brothers, sisters, parents, and other relatives.
I'd love to dig into this more, but the paper is, of course, behind a paywall. I'm very curious if the people indicated, above, had to financially support their extended family, or if it was simply the need to be dependable and responsible, that created the motivation.
So the study is about Mexicans in Mexico working in maquiladoras. Multigenerational/extended households/families are rather common in Mexico. Mexican culture is certainly more family oriented than in the US - "familism." Plus since maquiladoras pay very little (Google what the houses of maquiladora workers looks like) pooling resources is probably extremely beneficial just from a practical standpoint.
Depends on where in the US you're talking about. I'd hesitate to suggest there's an inverse correlation between SES and this kind of family orientation, but I don't have a better explanation for the observations I've made. I would have to question rather strongly the blanket assertion that people in Mexico just fundamentally care more for their families than people in the US do.
Certainly I could be happier, on a daily basis, were I plying my trade as part of an organization more closely focused on the kind of work that I do. On the other hand, where I am now has the twin virtues of being quite stable and enthusiastically remunerative, which counts for a lot more when I've got folks back home to look after.
Certainly I could be happier, on a daily basis, were I plying my trade as part of an organization more closely focused on the kind of work that I do. On the other hand, where I am now has the twin virtues of being quite stable and enthusiastically remunerative, which counts for a lot more when I've got folks back home to look after.
Excuse me? Please don't put words in my mouth; I did not say "people in Mexico just fundamentally care more for their families than people in the US do." I said the culture is more family oriented. You can certainly care about your family deeply and not have a culture of living together and financially supporting one and another/pooling resources. Caring is not the same thing as resource pooling. You may be willing to jump in front of a bus for your sister but not come from a culture where it's normal for you to live with your sister into adulthood. It's simply different cultural expectations/norms than we typically see in the US.
This culture may have come about from a practical standpoint out of need, or maybe not. It's certainly worth noting that even if the culture wasn't such it's certainly practical for maquiladora workers to pool family resources due to low pay.
And yes, um, certainly parts of the US that have a large Mexican-American population would have a more Mexican-American culture.
http://www.livescience.com/38647-mexican-culture.html
>Mexicans put a high value on hierarchy and structure in business and family matters. Especially outside of cities, families are typically large and Mexicans are very conscious of their responsibilities to immediate family members and extended family such as cousins and even close friends.
This culture may have come about from a practical standpoint out of need, or maybe not. It's certainly worth noting that even if the culture wasn't such it's certainly practical for maquiladora workers to pool family resources due to low pay.
And yes, um, certainly parts of the US that have a large Mexican-American population would have a more Mexican-American culture.
http://www.livescience.com/38647-mexican-culture.html
>Mexicans put a high value on hierarchy and structure in business and family matters. Especially outside of cities, families are typically large and Mexicans are very conscious of their responsibilities to immediate family members and extended family such as cousins and even close friends.
>I would have to question rather strongly the blanket assertion that people in Mexico just fundamentally care more for their families than people in the US do.
No one said that. Societal and cultural conditions being what they are in that part of the world lead to a situation in which living together and pooling resources makes a lot of sense. That's not true for most Americans. It has nothing to do with "caring" more or less. Most people, given the opportunity to do so, will chose to live on their own rather than bunk up with three generations of family members.
No one said that. Societal and cultural conditions being what they are in that part of the world lead to a situation in which living together and pooling resources makes a lot of sense. That's not true for most Americans. It has nothing to do with "caring" more or less. Most people, given the opportunity to do so, will chose to live on their own rather than bunk up with three generations of family members.
> Most people, given the opportunity to do so, will chose to live on their own rather than bunk up with three generations of family members.
This is just not true at all. In most of the world, looking after one's parents is not seen as a chore or a hardship, but basic empathy for one's parents.
When you grow old, would you rather live in a multigenerational household - vs being alone or in some kind of facility?
This is just not true at all. In most of the world, looking after one's parents is not seen as a chore or a hardship, but basic empathy for one's parents.
When you grow old, would you rather live in a multigenerational household - vs being alone or in some kind of facility?
Cohabitation and provision of support aren't necessarily the same thing, though. The latter seems to be what's argued to provide the family motivation discussed in the article; the former, while perhaps not entirely orthogonal, certainly isn't necessary for the latter to occur.
Sci-hub have it.
Paste the DOI: 10.5465/amj.2014.0898
Into the box here: https://sci-hub.cc/
Paste the DOI: 10.5465/amj.2014.0898
Into the box here: https://sci-hub.cc/
"every time the word "passion" is thrown around"
The problem is the English language doesn't, today in 2017, have separate words for "Our workplace and workers are passionate" vs "I'm passionate about something"
I'm passionate right now about virtualization and I've got a micro-lab of vmware ESXi and vCenter and all that and I purchased the home lab license so its all legal and I love fooling around with it at home. There's just something weirdly entertaining about it, like setting up webservers at home in 1996. Its a pity because I just got over a bad case of passion about MQTT where I was doing unspeakable things to defenseless ESP8266 microcontroller chips and RabbitMQ with MQTT and node-red for graphing and here I am addicted to screwing around with something else with barely a break. There's not a darn thing wrong with this kind of passion. Its more fun than watching daytime TV or sportsball on TV.
The kind of passion (same word) that "we" hate in workplaces and workers is best expressed as "Yeah sorry the bad news is your boss is a screamer. The good news is we prefer to think your boss is very passionate about his work, not that he's an antisocial asshole raised by wolves or maybe werewolves". The first and last time I worked for a screamer was in the early 90s and its the kind of thing people only tolerate roughly once per lifetime if at all avoidable.
The problem is the English language doesn't, today in 2017, have separate words for "Our workplace and workers are passionate" vs "I'm passionate about something"
I'm passionate right now about virtualization and I've got a micro-lab of vmware ESXi and vCenter and all that and I purchased the home lab license so its all legal and I love fooling around with it at home. There's just something weirdly entertaining about it, like setting up webservers at home in 1996. Its a pity because I just got over a bad case of passion about MQTT where I was doing unspeakable things to defenseless ESP8266 microcontroller chips and RabbitMQ with MQTT and node-red for graphing and here I am addicted to screwing around with something else with barely a break. There's not a darn thing wrong with this kind of passion. Its more fun than watching daytime TV or sportsball on TV.
The kind of passion (same word) that "we" hate in workplaces and workers is best expressed as "Yeah sorry the bad news is your boss is a screamer. The good news is we prefer to think your boss is very passionate about his work, not that he's an antisocial asshole raised by wolves or maybe werewolves". The first and last time I worked for a screamer was in the early 90s and its the kind of thing people only tolerate roughly once per lifetime if at all avoidable.
Passion is the abbreviation of power vacuum. The tendency to work hard for the enrichment of others, even in the presence of market forces.
I'm absolutely dumbfounded this is some sort of revelation to the author. It must be a new thing? Perhaps a product of the "self esteem/entitled generation?" Whenever I hear people (including job ads) talk about "passion" at work I have to roll my eyes. I never though of work as a means to some sort of personal fulfillment, it's a job, it's purpose is to provide you money. That is it! If you get personal satisfaction out of your work that's a nice bonus. Those "passion" people are going to become very dissatisfied with work and life - there's very, very few jobs that have the ability to provide that. We should probably be looking at things in a more practical manner to avoid this.
I always thought jobs advertising that they are looking for someone with "passion" as a ploy to trick the bright eyed and naïve young into overworking before they become disillusioned.
I've actually enjoyed most of the "menial" jobs I've worked. The only unenjoyable job I worked was only unenjoyable due to piss poor management. Now I enjoy working as a software engineer, I like what I do, but it's still just a job, just a way to earn a living.
I'm reminded of Office Space on career advice: "[The question from a guidance counselor of what you would do if you had a million dollars] is bullshit to begin with. If everyone listened to her there would be no janitors because because nobody would clean up shit if they had a million dollars."
I always thought jobs advertising that they are looking for someone with "passion" as a ploy to trick the bright eyed and naïve young into overworking before they become disillusioned.
I've actually enjoyed most of the "menial" jobs I've worked. The only unenjoyable job I worked was only unenjoyable due to piss poor management. Now I enjoy working as a software engineer, I like what I do, but it's still just a job, just a way to earn a living.
I'm reminded of Office Space on career advice: "[The question from a guidance counselor of what you would do if you had a million dollars] is bullshit to begin with. If everyone listened to her there would be no janitors because because nobody would clean up shit if they had a million dollars."
Agreed. I would highly recommend the book Disrupted which is partially about this attitude. It seems to be prevalent in the modern tech industry and the younger generation working within it.
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll give it a read.
>> Those "passion" people are going to become very dissatisfied with work and life - there's very, very few jobs that have the ability to provide that.
Maybe that's a good thing. If there's enough of them the entire concept will have to be reexamined (UBI for example or digital nomads, etc.). I think a lot more people are just starting to realise that owning a house and a car and having a few kids and a couple of ex-wives and a mountain of 'stuff' isn't necessary.
There are lots of jobs that will provide fulfilment. Most of them, of course, won't pay anywhere as near as well as your average office work - they pay enough though for someone who doesn't want the things I mentioned above.
Edit: Claiming having lots of money and 'stuff' isn't important apparently gets you lots of down votes now...strange.
Maybe that's a good thing. If there's enough of them the entire concept will have to be reexamined (UBI for example or digital nomads, etc.). I think a lot more people are just starting to realise that owning a house and a car and having a few kids and a couple of ex-wives and a mountain of 'stuff' isn't necessary.
There are lots of jobs that will provide fulfilment. Most of them, of course, won't pay anywhere as near as well as your average office work - they pay enough though for someone who doesn't want the things I mentioned above.
Edit: Claiming having lots of money and 'stuff' isn't important apparently gets you lots of down votes now...strange.
>Maybe that's a good thing. If there's enough of them the entire concept will have to be reexamined (UBI for example or digitals nomads, etc.)
Finding "passion" in your job is an entirely new concept. We've been around quite some time and, for 99.9% of that time and for 99.9% of the people, a job is a job. Nothing more than a means to an end. I don't see how UBI follows from people realizing what we've known for millennia.
Finding "passion" in your job is an entirely new concept. We've been around quite some time and, for 99.9% of that time and for 99.9% of the people, a job is a job. Nothing more than a means to an end. I don't see how UBI follows from people realizing what we've known for millennia.
I disagree. There are a lot more meaningless jobs these days that are totally unfulfilling. I've done manual labour and as hard on the body as it was it was more fulfilling than coding another photo/social app, even though I was certainly not passionate about the manual labour. Doing the coding job felt more akin to picking things off a conveyer belt in a factory for 8 hours. It did nothing for the body or the mind. I think there are more and more of those kinds of BS jobs now than there were in the past than provide little to no stimulation.
I would argue that this isn't a new concept, we just lost a lot of those jobs in the industrial revolution. If it feels like a new concept it's because we're only just now starting to drop a lot of the toxic habits introduced by it.
I could easily see a tradesman before being "passionate" about his work, though they probably wouldn't have used that language.
I could easily see a tradesman before being "passionate" about his work, though they probably wouldn't have used that language.
That's fair. I didn't mean to imply that no one took passion in their work prior to e.g. 1995, only that it wasn't a driving force. We didn't tell our children (or ourselves) to only pursue those careers for which we felt "passionate". First and foremost you had to feed yourself and your family. That was the goal.
Another differentiating factor now may be education and age at which someone starts a family. In my parents generation you finished your education at 16 or 18. I don't know the numbers but I believe it was a minority that continued after that. You also got married and started a family (and bought a house) by your mid-20's. So feeding your family becomes an important driver. Now that these things are pushed back many years people have more freedom to take the time to choose (much easier to feed only yourself with a little 'side project') and without the driver of providing for a family (and your employment necessary to their survival) it's more necessary to look for work that is fulfilling in other ways (i.e. you are passionate about it).
>Now that these things are pushed back many years people have more freedom to take the time to choose
If you consider six figure debt at 22 freedom :)
You're right though of course; there are a lot of variables and societal changes that have led to where we are now.
If you consider six figure debt at 22 freedom :)
You're right though of course; there are a lot of variables and societal changes that have led to where we are now.
The most fun job I ever had was at a shitty nightclub over summers in-between uni.
The pay was crap, and hours were 9pm to 5am, but I loved the people I worked with, and the physical/manual labour was more satisfying than cranking out some requirements for an app noone cares about.
Back in my single days, I actually applied to do some warehouse work outside of my 9-5 programming day job 'cos I found it so boring and unsatisfying. (Turns out you're not allowed to work so many hours for health and safety reasons)
I don't mind coding for a living - it's easy: I sit at a desk and browse the internet for most part, but it's hardly the peak of job satisfaction. I think if I was mad rich, I wouldn't mind doing something poorly paid but outdoorsy and invigorating.
The pay was crap, and hours were 9pm to 5am, but I loved the people I worked with, and the physical/manual labour was more satisfying than cranking out some requirements for an app noone cares about.
Back in my single days, I actually applied to do some warehouse work outside of my 9-5 programming day job 'cos I found it so boring and unsatisfying. (Turns out you're not allowed to work so many hours for health and safety reasons)
I don't mind coding for a living - it's easy: I sit at a desk and browse the internet for most part, but it's hardly the peak of job satisfaction. I think if I was mad rich, I wouldn't mind doing something poorly paid but outdoorsy and invigorating.
> I sit at a desk and browse the internet for most part, but it's hardly the peak of job satisfaction.
Oh, good. I thought I was alone. Or undervalued.
Oh, good. I thought I was alone. Or undervalued.
Aside from mad rich, how about basic income? Everyone has some employer in their past they loved but having to borrow money from dad to fix my car was so not cool. If I could feed my family and provide medical coverage using a basic income maybe I'd go back to "cool employer" lifestyle.
My kids are moving out "soon" and I won't need the expensive house in the best school district anymore, I wonder how many people would downgrade life a bit with a basic income. I won't need the best school district for 4, I'll just need somewhere safe for 2, probably much cheaper.
I get it that a BI means poor people get to eat, and thats very nice, but it also means something to me too, which would probably be a purely fun job.
My kids are moving out "soon" and I won't need the expensive house in the best school district anymore, I wonder how many people would downgrade life a bit with a basic income. I won't need the best school district for 4, I'll just need somewhere safe for 2, probably much cheaper.
I get it that a BI means poor people get to eat, and thats very nice, but it also means something to me too, which would probably be a purely fun job.
...or the open source projects developers might suddenly have time to support
I've found that a job that isn't too stressful and is working with cool people is the best. Social interaction is important (at least to me) and it seems to affect how much I lime a job a lot
Depends on the person.
I left one job last year and started a new one and find that I'm not stressed enough, perhaps. I could spend a full day doing nothing but screwing around on the internet and no one would notice.
If I did a graph of the number of posts I've made on HN per day since switching jobs the trend would be quite noticeable.
I left one job last year and started a new one and find that I'm not stressed enough, perhaps. I could spend a full day doing nothing but screwing around on the internet and no one would notice.
If I did a graph of the number of posts I've made on HN per day since switching jobs the trend would be quite noticeable.
But that's all the difference it takes. Awesome management makes shitty jobs awesome, and shitty management turns awesome jobs to shit. I experienced it both ways.
Corollary: managing people is a shitty job where you are on your own. You have to be really awesome to not screw it up.
Corollary: managing people is a shitty job where you are on your own. You have to be really awesome to not screw it up.
[deleted]
This article resonates with me, although I loved my job.
To make a long story short, when I was 20 I had to fully support my mother and my very young sister. This was the most important reason that led me to accept conditions at work (work for a foreign company who I didn't know anyone in person, for low salary, not enough vacation, work way more than 40 hours per week, be on call 24/7 for years, etc) that I know for a fact people that were not in the same situation would never take. At least the vast majority of my friends and colleagues from college.
I still loved my job, but it was a balance between accepting shitty conditions and being a very dedicated worker betting on a brighter future for my family.
It turned out very good for me, although it took a very long time to, in terms of salary, be on par with a national median.
I never thought about it that way, but family indeed was the real motivator for me.
To make a long story short, when I was 20 I had to fully support my mother and my very young sister. This was the most important reason that led me to accept conditions at work (work for a foreign company who I didn't know anyone in person, for low salary, not enough vacation, work way more than 40 hours per week, be on call 24/7 for years, etc) that I know for a fact people that were not in the same situation would never take. At least the vast majority of my friends and colleagues from college.
I still loved my job, but it was a balance between accepting shitty conditions and being a very dedicated worker betting on a brighter future for my family.
It turned out very good for me, although it took a very long time to, in terms of salary, be on par with a national median.
I never thought about it that way, but family indeed was the real motivator for me.
I don't see how you can ask people to self report in a circumstance like this and get anything but cognitively assonant responses.
If you are hemmed in by poverty, location, and financial obligations, you are going to convince yourself that your circumstances are acceptable to you, whether or not that is actually the case, or you won't survive in it, and be around to make a self-report.
If you are hemmed in by poverty, location, and financial obligations, you are going to convince yourself that your circumstances are acceptable to you, whether or not that is actually the case, or you won't survive in it, and be around to make a self-report.
That's like telling religious people "you aren't REALLY happy being religious, you are just afraid of going to hell."
“Listen. You don’t live there. You live here. With your people. Go to work. Get your money. And come on home.”
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/05/the-work-you-do...
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/05/the-work-you-do...
Supporting your family is not a third kind of motivation. It's totally extrinsic, because you get more money for doing the job than not doing the job.
Some people on this discussion have mentioned the motivation of "they pay me".
For me personally "they pay me" is enough to get me in the door and sitting at my desk for a certain amount of time each day.
I think it's actually this way for a lot of people.
My previous job doing DevOps-y stuff was completely different. In that job, if I didn't show up and do my work, other people wouldn't be able to work either. Doing that job felt like I was supporting my work family.
My current job (software QA) is very disconnected from eventual users and it just feels like a very repetitive slog every day.
Anyway this should maybe have been a throwaway, but whatever.
For me personally "they pay me" is enough to get me in the door and sitting at my desk for a certain amount of time each day.
I think it's actually this way for a lot of people.
My previous job doing DevOps-y stuff was completely different. In that job, if I didn't show up and do my work, other people wouldn't be able to work either. Doing that job felt like I was supporting my work family.
My current job (software QA) is very disconnected from eventual users and it just feels like a very repetitive slog every day.
Anyway this should maybe have been a throwaway, but whatever.
This is my story for the internship I am doing. Though I like the main aim of what I am doing, but I couldn't write a single line that involve any thought. And it's not I don't like programming. I contribute to open source at least once almost every week. It's just I don't feel like reporting to someone who knows less than me(no kidding), and I resort to trickery that I done something, which in reality I don't spend half an hour a day. And, I can not leave the internship because of the fear of what I will tell my friends and family.
There's a huge difference between the quality and quantity of work one does when intrinsically motivated, v.s. externally motivated. Yes, fear of losing your job and the inability to support your family that comes with it can and does motivate people to perform. That said, intrinsically motivated people are on a league of their own, driven to pursue their craft for the enjoyment of it.
isn't this "third motivation" simply fear that if they don't perform they will be fired and their family would suffer from it?
Sometimes it is.
Sometimes it's the feeling that you can't make your family/race/school/tribe look bad by not working hard. e.g. "If I slack off on this job, they will think everybody who graduated from Stanford is a lazy unprofessional bum." or "My parents raised me to be a better worker than this."
Sometimes it's the feeling that you can't make your family/race/school/tribe look bad by not working hard. e.g. "If I slack off on this job, they will think everybody who graduated from Stanford is a lazy unprofessional bum." or "My parents raised me to be a better worker than this."
That's fear too. Fear of looking bad to your peer groups.
No, it's pride. Wanting to not look bad to your peers (who aren't part of your tribe) because it reflects poorly on your tribe is pride.
"If I'm lazy, people will think all Mexicans are lazy." is not a fear motivator. It's motivated by pride and a sense of internal self worth.
"If I'm lazy, people will think all Mexicans are lazy." is not a fear motivator. It's motivated by pride and a sense of internal self worth.
Fear of looking bad is a far different thing than fear of unemployment, though.
I agree. The article puts "extrinsic factors (like the chance to earn a big bonus) or intrinsic factors (like personal fulfillment)" as the primary factors. The "third" motivation, and I'd say likely the most common, is "fear". Even if the fear is that your children will suffer the same servitude that you are experiencing.
I think the point is doing the job makes you feel valuable/appropriated by someone you care about (family in this case). Just like personal fulfillment, in that case, yourself.
I think the different perspectives on this would line up with the personality testing from C. Jung. (http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp)
That may be the case for some, but for some others I've met in similar situations in developing countries, they were happy and felt proud to be supporting their families. I didn't feel like their primary motivation was fear. Not everyone is so complex or pessimistic.
Yes. To me it was about the challenge itself and the "I can do it" motivator.
Or, this "third motivation" is the desire to succeed so the family can thrive as a consequence of that success.
Sort of a half-full/half-empty kind of thing, really. I suspect the perspective you cleave to is a product of your personal outlook.
Sort of a half-full/half-empty kind of thing, really. I suspect the perspective you cleave to is a product of your personal outlook.
No. It is the pride of independence. I can provide, rather than being a dependent.
It is literally being the one who has the power to make your family's life better, rather than being one of the powerless. Being able to provide your daughter with a better school, your mother with better health care, your family with a better place to live, feels to some the way "changing the world" feels to others.
It is literally being the one who has the power to make your family's life better, rather than being one of the powerless. Being able to provide your daughter with a better school, your mother with better health care, your family with a better place to live, feels to some the way "changing the world" feels to others.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/06/05/jordan_pe...
"I can tell you, because I received many letters of this sort ... young people are absolutely starving for someone to provide them with a sense of responsibility, and say look here, here's something worth living for, man.
You can find meaning in life with freedom, but freedom. Freedom is a chaotic sort of meaning, right, and freedom isn't sort of thing makes people happy. It is the sort of thing people troublesome -- troubled. Because freedom expands your series of choices, and that makes you nervous and uncertain... not to say that that's a bad thing. It's a good thing but it requires that you shoulder the responsibility of the freedom, but responsibility per se is what gives your life meaning, genuine meaning in the face of suffering." -Jordan Peterson
"I can tell you, because I received many letters of this sort ... young people are absolutely starving for someone to provide them with a sense of responsibility, and say look here, here's something worth living for, man.
You can find meaning in life with freedom, but freedom. Freedom is a chaotic sort of meaning, right, and freedom isn't sort of thing makes people happy. It is the sort of thing people troublesome -- troubled. Because freedom expands your series of choices, and that makes you nervous and uncertain... not to say that that's a bad thing. It's a good thing but it requires that you shoulder the responsibility of the freedom, but responsibility per se is what gives your life meaning, genuine meaning in the face of suffering." -Jordan Peterson
I read this article hoping that it would provide some meaningful insight into my own situation, but unfortunately, it only raised more questions. What about those of us who don't have families to support? What about those of us who are, in essence, unneeded? What each person needs in his or her life, whether it is provided by work or by something else, is a sense of meaning. Without this, vigor suffers. How this is not commonly known is beyond my comprehension.
Viktor Frankl wrote a whole book about this innate need for meaning, aptly titled "Man's Search for Meaning." In the book, Frankl observes that those who best survived the horrors of concentration camps were precisely those who were able to give some sort of meaning to their suffering, which in many cases came in the form of a family or loved one that waited for them to emerge from captivity.
This article is not very useful, and its lack of insight leaves me feeling surprised that it was written by a psychologist (who ostensibly should know better).
Viktor Frankl wrote a whole book about this innate need for meaning, aptly titled "Man's Search for Meaning." In the book, Frankl observes that those who best survived the horrors of concentration camps were precisely those who were able to give some sort of meaning to their suffering, which in many cases came in the form of a family or loved one that waited for them to emerge from captivity.
This article is not very useful, and its lack of insight leaves me feeling surprised that it was written by a psychologist (who ostensibly should know better).
"another day, another dollar" is a good motivation for a lot of people...
Presumably for this author, when he came of age to work, he didnt need to support his parents or his brothers, so he had the luxury to look for true meaning in his work and had enough balance in his checking account that quitting wasn't an unreasonable choice when he didnt find what he was looking for. I would think he is not alone, and many people around the world who come from upper middle class families are in the same boat if they dont have anybody else depending on them and if they can't find meaning in their job.
People are also strongly motivated by being part of a team and "winning" e.g. achieving a common goal or beating an enemy.
Bollocks to this. Just show me the money!
Funny how the first thing that appears when you open the article is some guy pouring a drink.
Turns out it's not for him (I think) nor did the guys at QZ intend to suggest it was, but I just interpreted the picture in a whole different way.
Turns out it's not for him (I think) nor did the guys at QZ intend to suggest it was, but I just interpreted the picture in a whole different way.
this is interesting. i thought i was a bit silly for working to essentially please my mom. maybe its still a bit silly. but sometimes people are silly and act in irrational ways. at least i'm not alone in this.
The author is mistaken, it's not motivation he's attempting to describe; it's coercion.
Money, mostly.
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I'm not going to ask why this BS is on the front page of HN. But it would be nice to know how many people upvoted it.
Work motivation is a big topic in the software industry. See the comments regarding "passion" that pop up in these discussions for example. Studies about and discussions of what motivates people to work are therefore very perinent to HN.
I wouldn't necessarily call this article "bs", but at the same time, I don't see how people working for their family is really HN-newsworthy...But perhaps people in the software industry need reminding of this?
I believe there is a definite movement to partially replace remuneration with intangible "passion" in this industry, so yes the industry does need reminding of this.
I'm confused as to who he's writing for as it seems very obvious that many people get "motivated" for work they don't enjoy because they have to support their family.
For example, every time the word "passion" is thrown around on HN, it will incite people to respond: "fuck passion... I just want to work my 40 hours and go home and spend time with my family."
[1] http://i.imgur.com/7MkgTGT.jpg
episode wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Maggie_Makes_Three