Why We Work Barry Schwartz

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Doreen Lee
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Why We Work Barry Schwartz Why read this book?

The question seems so simple. But Professor Barry Schwartz proves that the answer is surprising, complex, and urgent. We ve long been taught that the reason we work is primarily for a paycheck.

And why do so many people find immense fulfillment and satisfaction through menial jobs?

confused, unhappy, and has established a dangerously misguided system.

1 Why We Work Barry Schwartz Why read this book? An eye-opening, groundbreaking tour of the purpose of work in our lives, showing how work operates in our culture and how you can find your own path to happiness in the workplace. Why do we work? The question seems so simple. But Professor Barry Schwartz proves that the answer is surprising, complex, and urgent. We ve long been taught that the reason we work is primarily for a paycheck. In fact, we ve shaped much of the infrastructure of our society to accommodate this belief. Then why are so many people dissatisfied with their work, despite healthy compensation? And why do so many people find immense fulfillment and satisfaction through menial jobs? Schwartz explores why so many believe that the goal for working should be to earn money, how we arrived to believe that paying workers more leads to better work, and why this has made our society confused, unhappy, and has established a dangerously misguided system. (Inside Flap) Key Quotes The lesson I draw half a century later from my varied summer work experiences is that it needn t take a lot to turn bad work into good. And it needn t take a lot to turn good work into bad. (P. 39) Adding financial incentives to situations in which people are motivated to work hard and well without them seems to undermine rather than enhance the motives people already have. (P. 54) If we design workplaces that permit people to do work they value, we will be designing a human nature that values work. If we design workplaces that permit people to find meaning in their work, we will be designing a human nature that values work. (P ) Differences in the way people approach their work are explained by the attitudes they bring to their work WHO THEY ARE not what the work is. (P. 17) So it is possible that if people bring the right attitude to their work, almost any job can provide satisfaction, and if they don t bring the right attitude, no job will provide satisfaction. (P. 26) BLUE SKY LEADERSHIP CONSULTING PETER@BRAEULERCONSULTING.COM Blue Sky Leadership Consulting works with organizations to leverage Strategic Thinking and Execution Planning and we encompass many of the principles in these books into our Four Decisions TM methodology and development of company s One Page Strategic Plans. Whatever system you decide to use, understand them fully, implement them slowly and completely and maintain the discipline and rhythm necessary to see concrete results. Employees tire of Flavor of the Month and thrive on organizational alignment, execution of plans and achievements that garner a sense of accomplishment. Copyright 2016 Blue Sky Leadership Consulting All rights reserved

2 So REALLY Why DO you work? Think of a person who ENJOYS their job. What do you think are reasons they are engaged? There are so many factors that impact activities we enjoy doing: tasks that make the day fly by, opportunities to excel at things we can t find in other aspects of our life, social engagements, being the master or expert at something or bringing meaning to our life, making a difference in the world or to others. And yet, Gallop estimates that 2 out of 3 workers are DISENGAGED and don t find any of the above of real value. Their jobs are just that jobs that have lost the ability to engage, to excel, to contribute, to bring meaning to themselves or others. It IS all about the PAY! How did we get there? This is a key element this book explores. There are also two parts to a job : 1. What we BRING to the job and 2. What environment we CREATE as a leader. It all started with the fallacy that people will only work if they are rewarded and therefore it is essential to create appropriate incentives; the idea that you only get someone to DO something if you make it worth their while; and for several centuries that has been a core focus. Adam Smith Frederick Taylor B. F. Skinner Wealth of Nations 1776 Organize work by dividing labor Scientific Management Time / Motion studies Behavioral Management B o o k R e v i e w : W h y W e W o r k P a g e 2 6

The author states our challenge right now is to dig ourselves out of the hole we ve dug that is three centuries in the making.

3 The key is not in the idea of offering incentives but rather that to get good help is to provide jobs that people want to do. (P. 9) We saw the beginning of these theories with Douglas McGregor s Theory Y. The author states our challenge right now is to dig ourselves out of the hole we ve dug that is three centuries in the making. So either satisfying work is not for everybody, or unsatisfying work is the price we pay for material prosperity, or both. (P. 11). But this is not the total story. The author shares the story of a hospital janitor and the differences between his job description and the job duties as he interacts with the patients and their families. Or the hair stylist who said, It s important to HEAR my client. The consultation is the most important moment of the haircut. Don t assume you know what they want, because they may not even know what they want. (P.26). This is all about the difference between having a job and a calling. Calling - Work is a most important aspect of their life; Highly engaged and satisfied Career - Often more discretion, more engagement; focus is generally on advancement Job - Work is a necessity of life - work for pay It is people who see their work as a calling who find it most satisfying. Why We Work Page 17. You can generally create an awesome work environment when you find your calling in the work that you do. The destroyers are efficiency and control for when these are introduced there is little room for making a difference and being engaged in what you do. Think of a person at your office what is their JOB DESCRIPTON; how do they fulfill the RESPONSIBILITIES of their job? How much discretion do they have/ not have? What difference does that make? B o o k R e v i e w : W h y W e W o r k P a g e 3 6

4 Creating jobs people will be happy, even eager to do (P. 26): work that is challenging, varied & engaging able to use skills and develop more skills discretion on HOW you do your job Part of a group you respect Aimed at a goal that is valuable Companies that are industry leaders have some key common characteristics (P. 28) Provide employment security Self-managed teams/decentralized decision making Pay more than market Provide extensive training Measure employee performance emphasis on company mission Turning BAD to GOOD Toyota maintains a system of production (assembly line) with worker autonomy and variety. After taking over a GM plant, they KEPT the workers, KEPT the equipment, and CHANGED the production system. Workers want to be there and want to work and labor costs dropped by 50%. (P. 41) So how do you turn a good CAREER into a bad JOB? Schwartz provides several examples: Teachers who are required to follow a stilted and scripted curriculum Doctors who are incentivized by fee schedule medicine rather than taking the time to counsel and interview their patients. The same can be said for billable hours in the legal profession which undermines the young lawyer s devotion to the interests of the client. (P. 53) Incentives can distort our views in surprising ways. The book shares several examples that highlight how incentives can take a moral or social reason for doing something into a financial decision and create the totally opposite effect one had hoped for. The late pickups at a childcare facility example show how charging a fine actually created an increase in late pickups. What incentives do you provide your employees, your family, or others? What results were you hoping to achieve and what results have you actually experienced as a result? Technology of Ideas The final chapter is a conversation about human nature. It starts with a discussion about theory driven vs. data driven innovation and the difference between DISCOVERY and INVENTION. He suggests that what often happens is that a discovery about Human Nature is rather an invention and the data is then created to affirm the theory. He goes on to explore the fact that idea technology can have profound effects on people even if the ideas are false. (P ). As he discusses the effects of ideology he further states that Theories about human nature can actually produce changes in how people behave. What this means is that a theory that is false can BECOME true simply by people believing it s true. The result is that, instead of B o o k R e v i e w : W h y W e W o r k P a g e 4 6

5 good data driving out bad data and theories, bad data change social practices until the data become good data, and the theories are validated. (P. 72-3) Ideology has the ability for people to take what they already believe and create self-fulfilling prophecies where bad data changes social practices until the data becomes good data and the theories are validated (P. 13). One also sees the Pygmalion Effect impact achievement where high expectations result in high achievement. Schwartz also discusses the difference between performance-oriented children (who) want to PROVE their ability while mastery-oriented children want to IMPROVE their ability. (P. 77) This FIXED or INCREMENTAL theory of ability impacts the workforce where managers treat their employees differently based on their ideology. Why coach an employee if their ability can t be changed! He concludes that much of what we base work on is ideology-based and fiction and it will take considerable effort to kill it and create the needed alternatives. Actions to take from the book How do you reinstate benefits of work that allow employees to engage, contribute, excel, find meaning and value in what they do? What jobs do you have a hard time filling or keeping filled with GOOD help? How can you change those jobs so they will attract the best? Two tools we reach for when things go wrong are RULES and INCENTIVES. Where do you find yourself reaching for those tools and how can you solve the problem in a DIFFERENT way? Vocabulary for Why We Work Incomplete contracts Theory driven Data driven Discoveries Inventions Thing technology Idea technology Some of the job duties are specified explicitly, but many are not. Guided by some sense of efficient movement, aesthetics, or goth, they are inclined to do the ideal thing, and have people conform to it. They let users of the space tell them, with their behavior, what the ideal thing is. Tell us things about how the world works. Use those discoveries to create objects or processes that make the world work differently. Smartphones, MRI s, and other physical items Concepts, ways of understanding the world, and have profound effects even if the ideas are false B o o k R e v i e w : W h y W e W o r k P a g e 5 6

26th September 23rd October 21st November 18th December 16th The Advantage - Lencioni LinkedIn

6 Calendar of Events 28th February March 18th April 22nd May 27th June 17th July 22nd August 26th September 23rd October 21st November 18th December 16th The Advantage - Lencioni LinkedIn Breakthrough Marketing Plans Strength Finders Friday February 26th Friday March 18th A special session LinkedIn revisited Friday April 22nd Book Review: Why We Work Page 6 6

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