What Drives 'ME' to Work - Money, Mastery or Meaning?

“Design. Story. Symphony. Empathy. Play. Meaning. These six senses increasingly will guide our lives and shape our world.”

- Daniel H Pink

Many of us would have seen Danial Pink’s famous TED video about ‘the puzzle of motivation’ [1]. They may promptly answer that autonomy, mastery and purpose drive one to work. However, we need to relate that we all have different motivation to work based on different life-stages and circumstances. For most of us we can't deny it's need to earn the money for life. For some it’s a way to practice the skills to develop a mastery. And for a lucky few it’s a part of large mission they set for themselves where vocation meets advocation. Work remains the same however, attitude towards the work makes significant difference in a manner in which we engage with it.

Physiological and safety needs are fundamental requirements for any person. They are basic needs for survival. Everyone needs to fulfill these requirements for self and / or family, irrespective of if we are working 'for profit' or 'social cause'. Money helps in satisfying these needs. It is a personal choice that we all makes about how much and how fast we should and can earn money. It helps to maximize gains from one's effort and skills they possess. In parts it allows us to focus on 'efficiency'.

Thinking about money is essential and not wrong, but obsession with money leads to 'me first' attitude, selfish behavior job hopping and often burned bridges. Think about it - "Am I just working for weekend"? Am I just looking forward to next break rather than really conquering new assignment on hand? Money clouds objective thinking and appreciation for others' capabilities and efforts. It also leads to select assignments or migration to countries where we can get a few dollars more. It leads to mindset that THE most important thing is making a lot of money, and fast. Such mindset can also leads someone to run away from assignments with demanding clients, shy away from learning new skills, and anything that requires arduous work.?

Study after study shows that people who sees the work as an avenue to practice their skills and develop a mastery are far more engaged compared to the one who see merely a job. Jacob Bronowski mentioned in "The Ascent of Man" – "The most powerful drive in the ascent of man is his pleasure in his own skill. He loves to do what he does well and, having done it well, he loves to do it better. You see it in his science. You see it in the magnificence with which he carves and builds, the loving care, the gaiety, the effrontery. The monuments are supposed to commemorate kings and religions, heroes, dogmas, but in the end the man they commemorate is the builder."

People who are involved in their jobs as an avenue to demonstrate competencies really enjoy the work. They don't mind putting in long hours. Still validation and recognition of the work and the accomplished achievements are important.

People who see their work as part of a large mission don’t sees the work as a mean to an end, getting a paycheck. For them the work is meaningful and has a purpose as they are contributing to the greater good. It connects them to their reason for existence and something bigger than self. L P Jacks writes in ‘Education thru Recreation” - “A master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, education and his religion. He hardly knows which is which; he simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.”

One can pursue their mission irrespective of the nature of their profession. Someone who is on a mission of ‘creating a healthy community’ may take-up a job in the field of medicine or food and nutrition or fitness and heath well-being. A doctor, diet consultant, or gymnasium instructor – all the professionals can pursue the mission related to well-being of society.

Let me sum-up this learning with a story I heard from my grand-parents many times. Long time ago, a small state in the western part of India was impacted by draught. Almost two years went by without rains. Most of the water sources were drying and not enough water was left for people to pursue farming. People moved across the villages in search of work. A spiritual guru decided to build temples so it could provide work to people in their villages.

One day the guru visited a site in a nearby village. He started talking with the workers at the site. He asked the first person whom he met – “dear fellow, what are you doing here?” The person replied – “I’m breaking stones and earning living for my family”. The guru blessed the man and moved ahead. He saw a few people engrossed in the work. He went and checked with a worker and repeated the same question. The person replied – “I’m making statues. I’m a sculptor.” The guru appreciated his work and moved ahead. He saw a person performing laborious work in scorching heat with broad smile and humming a song. The guru went to him and asked the same question that he asked the other workers. The man replied expressing gratitude to guru – “O Guru, I’m grateful to you for providing us an opportunity to work in construction of temple. I’m happy to contribute in creating a place of spiritual learning, harmony and mental well-being”. The guru was quite pleased to see the man’s involvement with his purpose and asked him to join for building another temple in a nearby village.

Finding a purpose or meaning in the work helps to overcome the day-to-day challenges as learning and growth opportunities. Check-out the following articles that you may find helpful to define your purpose -

Harvard Business Review – Finding Success Starts with Finding Your Purpose - https://hbr.org/2022/01/finding-success-starts-with-finding-your-purpose

McKinsey – Help Your Employees to Find Purpose or Watch Them Leave https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/help-your-employees-find-purpose-or-watch-them-leave

Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause or belief - WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care? People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.

- Simon Sinek

May you find “work” that is part of your mission, provides you an opportunity to demonstrate your mastery and in the process help you to earn the money. Remember, people who find a job they love, never work a day in their life!?

References –

• [1] – The Puzzle of Motivation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9Y
• Views expressed are personal
• Copyrights acknowledged?