Why do I do all that?

Recognition.

When you find rare armor, beat a difficult boss, or get the top score on solitaire you get recognized.  It’s no different than trying to get the best marathon time, beat a personal record for cycling, or maintain that 240 bowling average.  We push for these things because we get recognition for those achievements.

Recognition has always been important.  But it’s becoming more important in our highly specialized, service oriented, possibly failing – recovering – failing economy.  Most of us are create on demand professionals (people who make stuff out of nothing for a living, by a deadline) it can be difficult to have a sense of accomplishment.  You don’t always get to pick up a tool or piece of food that you’ve helped create and say, “I did that”.

But recognition can fill that void.  When we recognize our employees, we validate their efforts.  And we find that they actually want to work harder, because they know someone cares.

We are all like that.

We all want someone to care about what we do.

If you are a boss, or even part of a team, you can help people grow just by recognizing what they do in a meaningful way.  And when people feel recognized they will engage in ways you never thought possible.  And isn’t that what we really want our employees to do?

photo provided by flickr user oskay

The argument against working from home tends to revolve around “building relationships” and “being seen” at the office.  Both of these are good things, and work-from-home proponents tend to gloss over how important they are.  But a lot of times the underlying current of work-from-home-is-evil is an issue of control.

The organization wants to know what their employees are doing at all times.  It doesn’t surprise me that as we install more and more cameras in buildings and on roads we find we are less trusting of our employees.

While issues of trust run deep and can’t be solved in a 300 word post, let me propose a question: is it better to mistrust your employees so that they don’t get any work done while in your building?  Or should you give them the benefit of the doubt and let them work?

In a world driven by intrinsic motivation, external sources of motivation become less and less effective.    When your job is to create something out of nothing, how does having your boss stand over your shoulder improve your productivity?  Does punching into a time clock make you more effective?

Of course it doesn’t!  In fact, it actually undermines our productivity.

Times have changed, yet how we are “motivated” in the workplace remains the same.  Almost all of us work on a “project” basis.  But we are still judged for hours worked and not quality worked.

As we move into the next decade of work (one where the news repeatedly says we won’t recover all the jobs lost in this current recession), companies are going to need to look at getting more productivity out of less people.  While this will be a challenge for organizations and workers alike, I can guarantee you one way to destroy productivity is to prevent people from working at home.

At some point we need to learn to trust our employees.  Because if you can’t trust your employees to work from home, you probably can’t trust them to work at the office.  And if you have so little trust in your employees, that tells me one of two things:  You either have the wrong people working for you.  Or your management style is destroying their productivity in the first place.

photo provided by flickr user wetsun

So companies are making a lot of money offering services to “manage your online reputation”.

Usually the advice they give is something like this.

1. Be careful what you say online
2. Control the content your friends put online about you
3. Actively promote yourself online in places like LinkedIn or Facebook

Those are all good things to do.  Certainly there’s nothing wrong with asking your estranged Uncle Philip to stop talking about alien abductions on your Facebook Wall or asking an old college buddy to take down those pictures of you after your 21^st birthday.

But is this really the right approach?

To me it seems like a lot of work.  It takes a lot of effort to cover up all your imperfections.  So why not live your life open?  Why not work at making yourself a better person instead of hiding the skeletons in your closet?  If you’ve got to work somewhere, why not work where you can make a long term impact?

Let’s face it; people like Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger have been rocked by scandal.  If they, and their millions, couldn’t protect their reputations, how likely is it that you can protect yours?

Of course it’s not just about avoiding trouble.  It’s about making a difference.  When we live a life of consistency other’s notice.  We aren’t one person on Facebook and another person in the office.  We’re the same person no matter who we are talking, and no matter where we are “existing.”  How much trust do you think people have in you when they know you act one way at work, and another way at home?

Will this attitude lose us out on some clients or maybe even a job?  Possibly.  But isn’t it worth it to not worry about what someone’s going to say about you in some far reaching corner of the internet?

Life is too short to worry all the time.

photo provided by flickr user vagawi

Naturally this means I’ve been looking at everything through an inefficiency standpoint.  What is wasteful?  What adds time and uselessness to my life?  What detracts value?

Trendnet does.  You see I bought a wireless internet card from them (which I love).  But it came with a rebate.  Now I understand the whole purpose of the rebate is to get you to not spend it.  That’s why it’s difficult to mail in the rebate, why it takes so long to get a rebate back.

I’ve sent in many rebates over the years but this is the first time I’ve ever received a debit card back.  That’s right they sent me a credit card instead of a check.  Why?  Because it will reduce the chance I’m going to use it.  It also means I need to spend that money instead of saving it.  In short it’s a con.

It’s also wasteful.  I am, by no means, an environmentalist.  But I can’t stand wasting things.  Now I’m forced to use a little piece of plastic that will sit in a landfill for the next 300,000 years.  All so I can spend my $8.68.

When you work with clients or students, don’t waste their time.  Don’t create a model of waste juts because it benefits you.  If the only way you can make money is by creating waste, maybe it’s time you rethink your business model.  Because at some point, people will become fed up with your wasteful ways, and stop going to you.

photo provided by flickr user net_efekt

I was thinking about that today as I was having a hard time concentrating.  In my current consulting role I spend a lot of time in a cubicle.  Why?  Because sometimes there is no better way to get a feel for a culture and to develop relationships than to roll up your sleeves and sit next to everyone else.  Even if you’re a consultant.

This has been a big issue for me because I work best alone and in silence.  That’s two things that I can’t afford in this assignment.  But as I sit at my desk I notice that the HVAC system kicks on and off.  That wouldn’t be too bad if it weren’t for a wobbling fan somewhere in the system.  Because all I hear for hours is whump-whump-whump-whump…

Then I go home to my apartment.  Where I can hear whump-whump-whump-whump…

No.  I’m not hearing things from the office.  I’m hearing another HVAC system with a loose fan.  It seems to be an epidemic.

Is it any wonder that my stress level has been increasing?  I can’t get a good nights sleep because of the fan at the apartment.  I can’t concentrate at work because of another fan.  And when I get in my car to go somewhere all I hear is the hum of the tires on the road.

No matter where I turn there is noise.  It’s not loud noise, but it is ever present.  And as time goes on, it drains my energy, my creativity, and frankly puts me in a bad mood.

We spend millions on improving employee lives – but how resistant we become to fixing a wobbling fan.  I see that same principal time and again.  We focus on big, grand ideas.  Things that are sexy or interesting.  And forget to focus on the basics.

photo provided by flickr

this weekend I ordered a new mouse for my computer.  My old mouse, which I have owned for more than a decade, finally died.  So after much deliberation I finally settled on a Logitech G500.  I had considered a more expensive Logitech mouse, but decided it wasn’t worth the $30 or $40 difference.

Well Amazon “knew” I was looking at mice and today sent me an email announcing a sale for the newer model.

They were just a few hours too late.  Could I have changed my order?  Probably.  But psychologically I already bought that G500.  In my mind I’ve already justified why it’s “better” than the more expensive (and newer) G9X.

What does this have to do with Meaning to Work?  Simple.  Even in an age of instant communication, sometimes things move too slowly.  We lose out on sales, customers, and business because we couldn’t move fast enough.

Does this mean we should move faster?  No.  Because most of us are already moving too fast.  You can see this in the news cycle.  With the ever present demand for more information, faster, reporters and editors are forcing stories out that aren’t fully fact checked.  And on pretty much a weekly basis you see some major news story retracted.  That’s fast.  But it’s not accurate

We need to get the right information to the right people at the right time.  Not faster.  Just right.

Of course how you do that is the challenge.

photo provided by imageafter.com

“All too often education actually acts as a form of aversion therapy, that what we’re really teaching our children is to associate learning with work and to associate work with drudgery so that the remainder of their lives they will possibly never go near a book because they associate books with learning, learning with work and work with drudgery. Whereas after a hard day’s toil, instead of relaxing with a book they’ll be much more likely to sit down in front of an undemanding soap opera because this is obviously teaching them nothing, so it is not learning, so it is not work, it is not drudgery, so it must be pleasure. And I think that that is the kind of circuitry that we tend to have imprinted on us because of the education process.” – Alan Moore

Alan Moore is a comic book writer.  He’s written both Watchmen and V for Vendetta.  Both of which have turned into major Hollywood productions.  Most of us don’t associate wisdom coming from comic books (maybe we should).  But Moore is right.  We do try to take the fun and joy out of learning and work.

We get sucked into believing that “real” work has to be hard and challenging, and no fun.  But it doesn’t.  My guess is, the things you work hardest on are the things you love most.  We all try to avoid the tasks we don’t like.  When we realize we can bring meaning to our work, we are one step closer to breaking free.

Don’t let your work become drudgery.  And if it is, don’t force that same attitude on your coworkers.  Give them the freedom to enjoy their work.

photo provided by flickr

As anyone who’s lead volunteers knows, one of the hardest things to do is keep them motivated and committed.  Part of this challenge comes from the volunteers themselves.  They lead busy, hectic lives with wives, boyfriends, kids, friends, work etc….  Sometimes the last thing they can fit into their schedule is volunteering.

But lets face it, it’s not always the volunteer’s problem, is it?  Sometimes we promise volunteers amazing experiences, life changing encounters, and even high levels of recognition.  What do you think happens when we don’t deliver on those promises?

They leave or become disillusioned.  What was once an awesome volunteer suddenly becomes someone who doesn’t show up when promised.

One way of fixing this is through the use of Realistic Job Previews.  Obviously the volunteer position isn’t a formal job.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t apply some of those same principles we would in a business-setting.  In fact, because it’s an informal position we need to make sure we do everything we can to make it easy on our volunteers.  Some volunteers put in as much time as a staff member.  We owe it to them to give a realistic view as to what’s going to happen.

So here are a few steps you can take to use Realistic Job Previews with volunteer positions:

1. Identify what tasks and skills are needed for a position. Do they need to be able to write?  To speak?  To make phone calls?
2. Be honest about what is most important in the job. You need to identify the critical skills for the position.  This needs to be done for their sake, as well as yours.
3. Have a conversation with them. Don’t send a form letter.  Realistic Job Previews don’t have to be fancy and formal.  Just talk to them.
4. When you ask them to join in the volunteer effort, make sure they understand what they are signing on for. Give them the good and bad again.
5. Talk about other possible opportunities. Will this lead to a job?  Will you be able to do other volunteer projects?  Will you get to meet someone famous, interesting, or important?  Will you receive public recognition?

Most volunteers are there because they are committed to the same ideas you are.  They want to help you succeed.  And they want to help you do it for free!  The very least we can do is give them a clear view of what their role will be.

photo provided by flickr

No one grows up thinking, “if only I could be a failure.  Then my life would be complete.”

Meaning is a life-long journey that we all strive for.  Some of us find it.  Some of us look for it our entire lives.  And some of us have given up a long, long time ago.

So what does this mean for organizations?  Simple.  How competitive can you be when most of your employees don’t care at all about their jobs?  How can you innovate when all you’re getting is “good enough”?

The truth is, jobs can’t provide meaning.  At best they can serve as a way for people to acheive goals that support their meaning.  But you can’t make someone feel meaning if they don’t start with it.

For instance, a person who is consumed with making money will never appreciate the opportunities present by working with a non-profit.  Just as someone who wants to solve world hunger will never be satisfied in a position that is all about increasing the bottom line.

No matter how great the job is, it can’t create something in a person that isn’t present.  That’s not the role of the job.