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Why We Work
Barry Schwartz
Why read this book?
“An eye-opening, groundbreaking tour of the purpose of work in our lives, showing how work
operates in our culture and how you can find your own path to happiness in the workplace. Why
do we work? The question seems so simple. But Professor Barry Schwartz proves that the answer is
surprising, complex, and urgent.
We’ve long been taught that the reason we work is primarily for a paycheck. In fact, we’ve
shaped much of the infrastructure of our society to accommodate this belief. Then why are so
many people dissatisfied with their work, despite healthy compensation? And why do so many
people find immense fulfillment and satisfaction through “menial” jobs? Schwartz explores why so
many believe that the goal for working should be to earn money, how we arrived to believe that
paying workers more leads to better work, and why this has made our society confused, unhappy,
and has established a dangerously misguided system.” (Inside Flap)

Key Quotes
“The lesson I draw – half a century later – from my varied summer work experiences is that it needn’t take a
lot to turn bad work into good. And it needn’t take a lot to turn good work into bad.” (P. 39)

“Adding financial incentives to situations in which people are motivated to work hard and well without them
seems to undermine rather than enhance the motives people already have.” (P. 54)

“If we design workplaces that permit people to do work they value, we will be designing a human nature that
values work. If we design workplaces that permit people to find meaning in their work, we will be designing a
human nature that values work.” (P. 85-86)

“Differences in the way people approach their work are explained by the attitudes they bring to their work –
WHO THEY ARE – not what the work is.” (P. 17)

“So it is possible that if people bring the right attitude to their work, almost any job can provide satisfaction,
and if they don’t bring the right attitude, no job will provide satisfaction.” (P. 26)

BLUE SKY LEADERSHIP CONSULTING | 210-219-9934 | PETER@BRAEULERCONSULTING.COM

Blue Sky Leadership Consulting works with organizations to leverage Strategic Thinking and Execution Planning and we encompass many
of the principles in these books into our Four DecisionsTM methodology and development of company’s One Page Strategic Plans.
Whatever system you decide to use, understand them fully, implement them slowly and completely and maintain the discipline and
rhythm necessary to see concrete results. Employees tire of “Flavor of the Month” and thrive on organizational alignment, execution of
plans and achievements that garner a sense of accomplishment.

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So – REALLY – Why DO you work? Think of a person who ENJOYS their job. What do
you think are reasons they are engaged?

1. 5.

2. 6.

3. 7.

4. 8.

There are so many factors that impact activities we enjoy doing: tasks that make the day fly by,
opportunities to excel at things we can’t find in other aspects of our life, social engagements, being the
master or expert at something or bringing meaning to our life, making a difference in the world or to others.

And yet, Gallop estimates that 2 out of 3 workers are DISENGAGED and don’t find any of the above of real
value. Their jobs are just that – jobs that have lost the ability to engage, to excel, to contribute, to bring
meaning to themselves or others. It IS all about the PAY! How did we get there? This is a key element this
book explores.

There are also two parts to a “job”:

1. What we BRING to the job and
2. What environment we CREATE as a leader.

It all started with the fallacy that people will only work if they are “rewarded” and therefore it is essential to
create appropriate incentives; the idea that you only get someone to DO something if you make it worth
their while; and for several centuries that has been a core focus.

• Wealth of Nations 1776

Adam • Organize work by dividing labor
Smith
• Scientific Management
Frederick • Time / Motion studies
Taylor

B. F. • Behavioral Management
Skinner

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The key is not in the idea of offering incentives but rather that “to get good help is to provide jobs that
people want to do.” (P. 9) We saw the beginning of these theories with Douglas McGregor’s “Theory Y”. The
author states our challenge right now is to dig ourselves out of the hole we’ve dug that is three centuries in
the making.

“So either satisfying work is not for everybody, or unsatisfying work is the price we pay for material
prosperity, or both.” (P. 11). But this is not the total story. The author shares the story of a hospital janitor
and the differences between his job description and the job duties as he interacts with the patients and their
families. Or the hair stylist who said, “It’s important to HEAR my client. The consultation is the most
important moment of the haircut. Don’t assume you know what they want, because they may not even
know what they want.” (P.26). This is all about the difference between having a “job” and a “calling”.

Calling -
Work is a most important
aspect of their life; Highly
engaged and satisfied
“It is people
who see their
Career - work as a
Often more discretion,
more engagement; focus is “calling” who
generally on advancement find it most
satisfying.”
Job -
Work is a necessity
of life - work for pay Why We Work –
Page 17.

You can generally create an awesome work environment when you find your calling in the work that you do.
The destroyers are efficiency and control for when these are introduced there is little room for making a
difference and being engaged in what you do.

Think of a person at your office – what is their JOB DESCRIPTON; how do they fulfill the
RESPONSIBILITIES of their job? How much discretion do they have/ not have? What
difference does that make?

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Creating jobs people will be happy, even eager to do (P. 26):
able to use discretion
work that is Part of a Aimed at a
skills and on HOW
challenging, varied group you goal that is
develop you do
& engaging respect valuable
more skills your job

Companies that are industry leaders have some key common characteristics (P. 28)
Self-managed
Provide teams/de- Pay more Provide Measure emphasis
employment centralized than extensive employee on company
security decision market training performance mission
making

Turning BAD to GOOD – Toyota maintains a system of production (assembly line) with worker autonomy and
variety. After taking over a GM plant, they KEPT the workers, KEPT the equipment, and CHANGED the
production system. Workers want to be there and want to work and labor costs dropped by 50%. (P. 41)

So how do you turn a good CAREER into a bad JOB? Schwartz provides several examples:
 Teachers who are required to follow a stilted and scripted curriculum
 Doctors who are incentivized by fee schedule medicine rather than taking the time to counsel and
interview their patients.
 The same can be said for billable hours in the legal profession which “undermines the young
lawyer’s devotion to the interests of the client.” (P. 53)

Incentives can distort our views in surprising ways. The book shares several examples that highlight how
incentives can take a moral or social reason for doing something into a financial decision and create the
totally opposite effect one had hoped for. The late pickups at a childcare facility example show how
charging a fine actually created an increase in late pickups.

What incentives do you provide your employees, your family, or others? What results
were you hoping to achieve and what results have you actually experienced as a result?

Technology of Ideas
The final chapter is a conversation about human nature. It starts with a discussion about “theory driven” vs.
“data driven” innovation and the difference between DISCOVERY and INVENTION. He suggests that what
often happens is that a discovery about Human Nature is rather an invention and the data is then created to
affirm the theory. He goes on to explore the fact that “idea technology” can have profound effects on
people even if the ideas are false. (P. 66-67). As he discusses the effects of ideology he further states that
Theories about human nature can actually produce changes in how people behave. What this means is that
a theory that is false can BECOME true simply by people believing it’s true. The result is that, instead of

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good data driving out bad data and theories, bad data change social practices until the data become good
data, and the theories are validated.” (P. 72-3)

Ideology has the ability for people to take what they already believe and create self-fulfilling prophecies
where bad data changes social practices until the data becomes good data and the theories are validated (P.
13). One also sees the Pygmalion Effect impact achievement where high expectations result in high
achievement. Schwartz also discusses the difference between “performance-oriented children (who) want
to PROVE their ability while mastery-oriented children want to IMPROVE their ability. “(P. 77) This FIXED or
INCREMENTAL theory of ability impacts the workforce where managers treat their employees differently
based on their “ideology”. Why coach an employee if their ability can’t be changed! He concludes that
much of what we base work on is ideology-based and fiction and it will take considerable effort to kill it and
create the needed alternatives.

Actions to take from the book

 How do you reinstate benefits of work that allow employees to engage,
contribute, excel, find meaning and value in what they do?
 What jobs do you have a hard time filling or keeping filled with GOOD help? How
can you change those jobs so they will attract the best?
 Two tools we reach for when things go wrong are RULES and INCENTIVES.
Where do you find yourself reaching for those tools and how can you solve the
problem in a DIFFERENT way?

Vocabulary for Why We Work

Incomplete contracts Some of the job duties are specified explicitly, but many are not.
Theory driven Guided by some sense of efficient movement, aesthetics, or goth, they
are inclined to do the “ideal” thing, and have people conform to it.
Data driven They let users of the space tell them, with their behavior, what the “ideal”
thing is.
Discoveries Tell us things about how the world works.
Inventions Use those discoveries to create objects or processes that make the world
work differently.
Thing technology Smartphones, MRI’s, and other physical items
Idea technology Concepts, ways of understanding the world, and have profound effects
even if the ideas are false

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Calendar of Events
February 28th 8:00 AM – Wittigs The Advantage - Lencioni
March 18th 8:00 AM – Wittigs LinkedIn
April 22nd 8:00 AM – Wittigs Breakthrough Marketing Plans
May 27th 8:00 AM – Wittigs Strength Finders
June 17th 8:00 AM – Wittigs
July 22nd 8:00 AM – Wittigs
August 26th 8:00 AM – Wittigs
September 23rd 8:00 AM – Wittigs
October 21st 8:00 AM – Wittigs
November 18th 8:00 AM – Wittigs
December 16th 8:00 AM – Wittigs

Friday February 26th

Friday March 18th A special session LinkedIn revisited

Friday April 22nd

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