The way we think about work is broken | Barry Schwartz

When slavery existed, slave owners were required to provide their slaves with "adequate" means of living, such as shelter, food and medical needs. They were strategicly deprived of such things as education and freedom. The only difference today is that the "adequate" means of living has turned into a paycheck in the form of minimal wage. The lower class is still strategicly deprived of education and freedom. As long as they work full time, they only make enough money for shelter, food and medical needs.

I had my last shift in my mundane job today. I am going to walk up a hill tomorrow. I have no further plans.

"Man wasn't made for work but to create", Agostinho da Silva

This guy made so much sense. If I or most people were given the opportunity to work with all our basic needs met (food, shelter, clothing, bills) that we didn't have to worry about, we'd work for recognition and with passion and not think of it as a burden or be forced to work for someone we don't want to

"Very shape of the institution within which people work creates people who are fitted to the demands of that institution." Amazing.

This speech deserves more views. This is short, meaningful and right on point!

To quote Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, "“To speak of certain government and establishment institutions as “the system” is to speak correctly, since these organizations are founded upon the same structural conceptual relationships as a motorcycle. They are sustained by structural relationships even when they have lost all other meaning and purpose. People arrive at a factory and perform a totally meaningless task from eight to five without question because the structure demands that it be that way. There’s no villain, no “mean guy” who wants them to live meaningless lives, it’s just that the structure, the system demands it and no one is willing to take on the formidable task of changing the structure just because it is meaningless. But to tear down a factory or to revolt against a government or to avoid repair of a motorcycle because it is a system is to attack effects rather than causes; and as long as the attack is upon effects only, no change is possible.”

I watched 3 ted talks of him and my worldview and ideas of how things should work has basically turned 180 degrees. this mans ideas and his way of conveying them are incredible. Thanks for uploading! awesome talk, profoundly important insight

Great talk, and hits the nail on the head....most people have no connection with their company anymore because it's all about getting paid. Being part of a company is like being part of a ships crew...you're all in the same boat, and have to work together to keep it sailing. That's the only way to ensure you keep getting paid. If you aren't willing to pull your weight and put in some effort, then you're a fool for joining a company for the wrong reasons. If you only focus on ths money, you're setting yourself up for depression. That said, the other important point of this talk is how we create a system full of mundane jobs that have no real satisfaction. So do we hand it over to machines completely? Or perhaps we should set up a system wherein all employees start at the bottom and have equal opportunity to move up...neither work. What we really need to do is stop babying our children for so long. Teach them the reality of the world and the importance of pushing yourself to the next goal...whatever that goal may be. To teach them a craft and how to take pride in it. Instead, we willingly dumb our kids down and lie to them. They drift through public schools, with the majority having no clue whats really happening or where they are headed....then one day..."welcome to the world! Now, get a job". We can't make the world a better place for ourselves, but we can help our kids to see it in a different light so that they may succeed where we did not.

I'd like to email this link to my entire hierarchy. I work in a warehouse that services mostly convenience stores. The rate of rotation is so unreal.... I've seen more faces come and go than anywhere else I have ever worked. And the biggest complaint is "nobody wants to work". IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW. No wonder! The work is challenging, but only in a frustratingly, crippling, degenerative sort of way. I stamp cartons of cigarettes. The work is easy compared to some other work, but it is monotonous and the fact that almost nobody seems to understand how my machine works is devastatingly absurd. Even the senior technician and the stamp service can't figure out these issues... it's like nobody has the time to give even the slightest care... until someone else is breathing down their neck.

What is it with this guy that everytime he gives a lecture leave people wanted for more I. Mean hes so good in making us aware things being before our nose without us truly noticing I think hes truly gifted

" The secret to happiness is low expectations" B.Schwartz Inspirational! #Feel free Sisyphus

it's always frustrating when people pose problems but don't provide any sort of solution. what a cop-out.

Having a mundane job was the most mentally invigorating, refreshing, essential part of my life! (Retired now, but going back to work for therapeutic and human connectivity value..-being part of the human milieu..). Work can be very-very therapeutic. It's in the way many mundane activities have of distracting our focus, allowing us to refocus, etc.. Work has a built-in health-giving psychological process.. Sometimes, the more mundane, monotonous the work activity, the greater the mentally restorative effect! This is a phenomenon known to some religious/spiritual movements or practices.. So there's positive healthy distraction/focus, and then there's the more common Western hyper-materialistic distractions that can potentially undermine. Some work/jobs can, of course, be more therapeutic than others.. Depends on the person (personality type may be relevant to the work/job). So my opinion is that there's a valid argument for also rethinking how we work our way into our senior years, -with maybe a different spin on conventional "end of working for a living" retirement. To me, it's mind-boggling that there's very little in print on the health imparting aspects of doing work.. I think when we begin to have a better, more thorough (more holistic) understanding of work, we'll begin to get our collective work-ethic back, as a society. In fact i have a theory about the mentally harmful effects of not having work, "work deprivation".. Little thought-tidbit brought to you by a rank-and-file INFP. Thanks for reading! Now then, everybody back to work! Busy, busy, busy! Vitamin "W"!!

Adam Smith was one of the first to recognize that the division of labour increased the production but was alienating, he was not the short sighted moron portrayed in here. In fact whenever you disagree with Smith on any topic, chances are you are probably the one who is wrong. Ted talks are usually shallow answers for deep problems but this one is by far the most idealistic thing I have seen here and I mean it in the original sense of the word idealism.

bruuuutal!! cuanta razón! espectacular punto de vista!!

The sad fact of the matter is that we can't all be doctors, lawyers, engineers, inventors, or artists. There simply has to be a majority of menial laborers - at least with the current system, where we can't just wish goods and services into existence. This talk is very lofty and nice, but it wasn't some evil invention that made society what it is. It's simply capitalism. If anything is ever to change, it'll be on the backs of robots doing our work for us, so that we're free to do what we please.

책을 보고 강연을 찾아보게 되었습니다. 동기부여에 대한 주제로 책을 찾아서 읽어보다가 교수님의 사회전반적인 시스템에 대한 문제로까지 확장되는 사고의 즐거움을 하게되었습니다.

I've always hated this system of working the monotonous jobs over and over and over, the only way to get out of it is to be successful at something you are passionate about or be a homeless hippie.

Great talk, one of the best for a while