Name: The way we think about work is broken
Uploaded: 2015-09-08T15:46:37Z
Duration: 7 min 52 s
Description: What makes work satisfying? Apart from a paycheck, there are intangible values that, Barry Schwartz suggests, our current way of thinking about work simply ignores. It's time to stop thinking of workers as cogs on a wheel.

Barry Schwartz: The way we think about work is broken

The way we think about work is broken

What makes work satisfying? Apart from a paycheck, there are intangible values that, Barry Schwartz suggests, our current way of thinking about work simply ignores. It's time to stop thinking of workers as cogs on a wheel.

Work is often reduced to a paycheck, but humans crave meaning, challenge, and engagement in their daily labor. Yet, most people endure monotonous, soul-deadening jobs because of outdated beliefs about human nature. The industrial revolution adopted the notion that people work only for rewards, stripping work of purpose and satisfaction. The institutions society builds reflect and reinforce these powerful, often mistaken, ideas about what motivates us.