What We're Reading Now
15 February 2011
Rachel is reading The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations that Win by Dave Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich. Why do YOU work?
Tags:
If there's one thing that employee engagement research has taught us in the past 10 years, it's that we don't work hard for the money -- basic needs for income and benefits may be part of why we're not all living lives of leisure and volunteer work, but they're not motivating our discretionary effort. So what drives* us to work?
Co-authors (and husband and wife) Dave and Wendy Ulrich have a hypothesis, and they posit that we work to satisfy our human search for meaning and purpose. They argue that organizations should actively support this quest, not simply because it's the right thing to do, but because it results in higher productivity, greater commitment and better results. They call the places that do this well abundant organizations, work settings that align individual aspirations with stakeholder value and humanity's good and have "enough to spare of the things that matter most: creativity, hope, resilience, determination, resourcefulness, and leadership." Once they finish building the business case for abundance, Dave and Wendy take readers on a journey through seven questions to find abundance in most any organization.
Perhaps my favorite of the questions is the last one: "What delights me?" As someone who spends a lot of time working to help people do their best work so that they and their organizations benefit, I find that delight is an often-underrated tool in the manager's toolbox. It doesn't have to be expensive or time-consuming or splashy. Heck, some days I can be delighted by a colored paper clip. It's relatively easy, and yet few workplaces tap its power. So when's the last time someone delighted you? The last time you delighted someone? Think about it . . . and then go create some delight.
*Lest you be left wondering, this is indeed a not-so-subtle reference to Dan Pink's Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. It makes a great companion book; they're highly complementary, but don't have too much repetitive overlap.
Comments
Our Comment Policy:
Our blog posts are only half of the conversation. What our readers have to say is equally important to us, and we're grateful for all the comments that continue the dialog.
To ensure that the discussion here is as useful as possible to all of our readers, please be respectful of our contributors and refrain from harassing, threatening and/or vulgar language. We reserve the right to screen and remove any comments from the site. If you have a question about a comment or want to discuss our policy, please contact us. We'll talk it over.
Michael Latsko
Feb 15, 2011
Speaking of Dan Pink and the “why” of work, his latest column in the Telegraph speaks to Adam Grant’s research at the Wharton School on this same topic:
http://tinyurl.com/69368uz