Going back to work after great weekend?
Danny Supriyadi, senior manager, Accenture
Picture this: we are all excited about going back to work even after the greatest weekend ever!
What kind of work could possibly give us such a thrill? Our own? Or a job like Tiger Woods's or Ricky Martin's? Many people view their work as "just a job".
Some even believe work is preordained to be boring and dull. Work is a punishment that we have inherited from Adam's mistake at the very start of mankind's history. Forget pleasure. We are lucky if the work is not painful!
We spend five days a week getting the numbers right, meeting the schedule, luring customers and keeping them happy. Five days in a week to get things done faster, better, cheaper. Who talks about fun, beauty and the heart?
The modern management approach to work goes back all the way to 1911. In The Principles of Scientific Management, F.W. Taylor showed that he could cut out mistakes, lift productivity and make even the dumbest drone a reliable worker by breaking his job down into simple, repeatable and mechanically detailed steps. It's hardly an inspiring view of work.
Then, Peter Drucker gave us all we needed to know about the organization. He taught us about hierarchy, span of control, and the carrot and stick approach to getting things done through others. Corporations built empires based upon this structure for decades. It's about formation. Man just needed to be in the right place.
Thanks also to D. McGregor, who chipped in with "The Human Side of Enterprise". He urged a more humanistic workplace with his Theory X and Theory Y. He basically said that people were a really important part of business and they would contribute more if treated as responsible and valued employees.
Studies and practices to address the human side at work found their way into the merit system, hygiene and motivators, learning organization, flexible hours, stock options, and virtual organization that allow people to work any time, anywhere.
People saw the dot-com era as quite an ideal. People felt like doing cool things. Passion and dreams filled the air. Ideas and speed were the rule. Sneakers and the casual mood sent ties and jackets packing. The world was turned upside down for a while. However, neglect of the center of gravity called profit spilled lots of red ink on the floor.
Post dot-com coupled by the economic downturn put the numbers back in command. After all, profit is a sign that our customers honor the value of our work. Profit allows us to do cool stuff. So, bottom-line first and fun may follow.
It will take a while for the next big wave to pump the blood back into work in the way the dot-com era did. So, we've got to think for ourselves; what would make our work more enjoyable?
We are looking for the pleasure in work. No more and no less than pleasure. And what is pleasure? It's the great feeling when we kiss our loved ones, when we see our new-born baby, when our golf ball shoots true, when we share laughter with friends, when we enjoy the beauty of a waterfall, and maybe when we just talk about the things we know we'll never do.
Just like any other thing that givea us joy, work will give us pleasure when it has something that we enjoy doing, something that we enjoy contemplating, something we enjoy remembering, and something we enjoy looking forward to.
The joy of work is not so much about work. It's about joy. And joy is a positive commodity that is available to all of us. Cool work isn't confined to Tiger Woods or Ricky Martin. It is also available to any of us. If you still haven't found it yet, loosen up. Joy is too serious to be taken seriously.