Читать книгу Shapers - Jonas Altman - Страница 21

While our ancestors saw work as a sacrifice that made them morally worthy, shapers see work as a moral good that is worthy in and of itself. They want to get better at what they do, connect with others and with their purpose, and feel free to do work that matters. As such, the key to long‐term professional performance stems from having a powerful inner drive.

In the early 20th century, Robert Woodworth, a student of renowned philosopher and psychologist William James, proposed that something could be performed as a function of its own drive. This system of dynamic psychology made room for both our behaviour and our consciousness of a given activity.

Later, Abraham Maslow designed his famous hierarchy, mapping out the basic growth needs starting with those necessary for survival. For some, the self‐actualising endeavour of work, with its space for creativity and problem solving, sits pretty well at the top. Yet Maslow never intended the path to personal bliss to be so quaintly staged, nor to be represented as a pyramid. Towards the end of his life he argued that self‐transcendence was the apex: putting your own needs aside and serving something greater than yourself. Over a lifetime, you might shift back and forth within the hierarchy and address several needs simultaneously.

With their self‐determination theory, Edward Deci and Richard Ryan built upon Maslow's work. Here, motivation rests on three innate psychological needs that shape our behaviour: 1) competence; 2) relatedness; and 3) autonomy. When these three criteria are met, one is poised to continually grow and discover meaning.

More recently, Barry Schwartz and organisational psychologist Amy Wrzesniewski found that work activities can have internal and instrumental consequences but this doesn't necessarily mean that those who thrive at work have internal and instrumental motives. In their research with cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point, they concluded that ‘Cadets with strong internal and strong instrumental motives for attending West Point performed worse on every measure than did those with strong internal motives but weak instrumental ones. They were less likely to graduate, less outstanding as military officers and less committed to staying in the military.’ In other words, while status and a paycheck may be the consequences of why you work, the real signal of your contribution and progress comes from what motivates you.

We actually stunt our professional progress when we allow ourselves to be led by both intrinsic and extrinsic drivers. The key to long‐term professional performance is having a powerful inner drive. Medellin‐based writer and shaper David Kadavy explains: ‘I've decided what I want to do with my life … to follow my curiosity and see where it takes me. To learn what I can and share that. I arrived here because I tried a lot of things—all that was left was finding pleasure in my work.’ Once he found what lit him up, he doubled down on his writing life and has never looked back.

The science behind human motivation should inform how we organise ourselves in work. And although there is no one‐size‐fits‐all solution for a company, we can think in systems with the interconnectedness of control, context, and collaboration.

1 ControlEngaged employees have more discretion over their experiences at work. We've seen the power of autonomy at work: being trusted to choose when, where, and how we work is vital for workers to feel and be their best. Still, the use of fixed technology (a desk phone and a desktop tied to a workstation) exceeds mobile technology (a cell phone and a laptop) by 2 to 1. Office desks around the world are not only restricting mobility, they're doubling as handcuffs.

2 ContextWhat works in Barcelona won't necessarily fly in Bengaluru. The most engaged employees in the world are in emerging economies. Developed nations are more polarised (either very engaged or not at all) and a few notables like Spain, Belgium, and France suffer from the highest rates of dissatisfaction. When a company expands to a new city, and ‘exports’ its office, it must consider cultural context. Too often, companies fail to appreciate the nuances of a city's culture and meet the expectations of their future employees. This principle even extends to large office settings that span several floors. When someone, say in Customer Success (2nd floor), heads up to Management (22nd floor), the cultural disparity, more than the physical distance, can be telling of organisational dysfunction.

3 CollaborationParadoxically, many companies still operate with stiff hierarchies that inhibit collaboration. Collective efforts that fuel the innovation economy don't jive well with the positional authority that is so commonplace. What's needed in turn is a dynamic and participatory way of working that champions cognitive and cultural diversity, multiple opinions, and a knack for adapting to change.

Organisational agility is like a pendulum, and as it swings, experimentation is required to keep people engaged. Sensitivity must be given to the emergent properties and uniqueness of each institution. Those companies that champion control, context, and collaboration lay the foundation for people to be their best selves. They convert the proverbial office into a destination where employees choose to work and hangout.

While our ancestors saw work as a sacrifice that made them morally worthy, shapers see work as a moral good that is worthy in and of itself. Whether team leader or YouTuber, the main driver for being engaged in our work comes deep from within. And as organisations upgrade their operating systems, we too must continually update our personal ones. When we sync with our motivations, we can discover more meaning, build better organisations, and weave a richer social fabric.

With some history under our belt and an appreciation for how the nature of work is changing, we turn our attention to the ways in which one's job and one's personal life have blended. It's possible to organise ourselves in such a fashion that finding and sustaining purposeful work as shapers may not be for the few but a real opportunity for the masses.