Years later, when I was working as a trolley wally in a supermarket, I tackled the boredom by talking to the customers in as many different accents as I could manage. I started with one that I didn't think would alert any suspicion - generic Asian - then moved on to Irish, Welsh, Australian and American.
The problem when someone feels burned out, bored, unchallenged, or stifled by their work is not the job itself but rather the environment and playground rules given to them to do the job at hand.
Just as important, we need a new dedication to opening avenues for employee participation and motivation through profit-sharing and innovative programs of job enrichment.
I was thinking that work is like fertilizer in that I'm glad it exists; I just don't ever want to get stuck in it.
Companies can't offer every employee a vertical rise through the ranks, and some employees' careers will level off. Without the prospects of further advancement, how do you keep these people satisfied throughout what might now be a longer working life? By providing them with an increased level of autonomy.
Many have no desire to be in it, because their work does not interest them, providing them with neither challenge nor satisfaction, and has no other merit in their eyes than that it leads to a pay-packet at the end of the week.
Even the coolest jobs get stultifying with repetition, and the only way to break that cycle is to bring another job into the mix.
When we think about labor, we usually think about motivation and payment as the same thing, but the reality is that we should probably add all kinds of things to it - meaning, creation, challenges, ownership, identity, pride, etc.
Committing great work does not necessarily feed you.
When we asked people if they would rather have a best friend at work or a 10% pay raise, having a friend clearly won.
Most of us, like the assembly line worker, have jobs that are too small for our spirit. Jobs are not big enough for people.
Business has to give people enriching, rewarding lives...or it's simply not worth doing.
