From Workhouse to Workplace – Is There Actually a Difference?
Just stop for a moment and consider how you feel about your job. If you love it totally then you are to be congratulated. Unfortunately, for many, work is a tedious, monotonous or even soul crushing necessity.
In his latest TED Talk, psychologist Barry Schwartz says the ideas that institutions assume about their workers create a mirrored reality for its employees.
‘We design human nature, by designing the institutions within which they work’ – Barry Schwartz
So where an institution assumes that money is their worker’s only motivation it creates a pressurised, grasping environment where people work solely for financial gain. Schwartz urges us to stop seeing workers as cogs on a wheel, and instead decide what ideas about people and human nature they should hold true.
What are the ideas and beliefs in your workplace that design people’s nature? Now consider, how could they be redefined to change the way your organisation functions, and how people feel about working there? Or even just consider challenging your own beliefs; maybe we can change the world one job at a time. Wouldn’t that make an interesting new year’s resolution?
Watch Schwartz’s TED Talk HERE.
