Why we work

As Christmas approaches, one must be blind to miss the enormous blitz of stuff for sale. Advertising permeates television, newspapers, magazines, and the phantasmal web. We are urged to buy in a frenzy of spending and wrapping and giving. Psychological studies abound as to why we do this. To show appreciation for others in our lives. To make ourselves feel good about our altruism. To improve our chances with a potential mate. The reasons are many.

But flip this on its head and consider that this deluge of stuff to be given must first all be made. Which is another even more basic human behavior – we are makers.

Consider our prehistoric ancestors. Busy all day, every day, no vacations. Gathering berries and mushrooms, snaring rabbits, hunting antelope. There was no cessation of these basic survival activities. But there was plenty of pride and satisfaction in a job well done, as it resulted in a full tummy for you and your family. The efforts were richly rewarded.

And then there was that relatively huge human brain bringing creativity to bear on the problem. Better arrowheads. More effective snares. Improved hunting strategies. Creativity is strongly intertwined with making.

This satisfaction of a job well done appears to be embedded in the primal, survival centers of our brains, because it is strongly experienced today. We take satisfaction in creativity. We enjoy doing a job well.

And while we no longer snare rabbits, we get that same thrill of success from a job well done, seemingly any job.

Swarthmore College psychologist Barry Schwartz, in TED talks and in several books, has researched and observed why we work. The need for money is almost never at the top of the list when people are asked. According to Professor Schwartz:

“Satisfied workers are engaged by their work. They lose themselves in it. Not all the time, of course, but often enough for that to be salient to them. Satisfied workers are challenged by their work. It forces them to stretch themselves—to go outside their comfort zones. These lucky people think the work they do is fun, often in the way that doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku is fun.”

Many have written of the importance of work. Studs Terkel wrote “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do” in 1974 and it resonates still today, a classic. Terkel interviewed many people, from parking valets to waitresses, steel workers to business executives, and captured their thoughts and feelings. His overall conclusion was that, while work can be difficult, it is meaningful and rewarding to many in all walks of life.

Mike Rowe, the well-known television host and narrator of Dirty Jobs and Somebody’s Gotta Do It, is a strong proponent of the dignity of work, any work, especially blue collar and the trades. Rowe would like to see more specific skills training and apprenticeship programs to match millions of potential employees with currently unfilled jobs.

In the end, we must recognize the satisfaction which comes from work. The dignity and pride which arises from serving a hungry customer well. Or mopping a floor properly. Or picking crate after crate of cherries. Or writing a block of code that protects a newly discovered network fault.

Work is important to us. It is visceral. It is primal. It gives life meaning. It gives us pride.

That is something that we need to remember when developing social programs. It is just possible that, for instance, an Earned Income Tax Credit, which encourages work, might be superior to a general cash disbursement, which does not.

Now, go forth, shop, and enjoy the holidays. Give all of those makers a purpose.