On work

While perusing the June 4 issue of the Financial Times, I chanced upon a light yet enlightening article written by Lucy Kellaway. Entitled “Manual work holds the key to spiritual bliss,” she talks about an inadvertent discovery that resulted from a freak accident. Lucy wrote:

“It all started with a fall. The Victorian dining chair that had been bearing my weight with growing reluctance these past two decades finally gave way a couple of months ago. The webbing snapped and my bottom fell through the seat, leaving me trapped in the frame like a napkin pulled halfway through a ring.”

Rather than buying a new chair, Lucy decides to repair the old one. And instead of sending it to the shop, she decides to fix the chair herself. So she orders materials from the internet and watches a Youtube video on how to administer upholstery. After receiving the needed materials, she begins the task at hand.

“Two days in, I realized that I had discovered the platonic form of work. Not many people appear to know this. As far as I can see, the only other person in the world to have made this discovery is, somewhat unexpectedly, Pamela Anderson. She said in an interview that she found upholstery better than therapy.

There are, of course, some things that aren’t so good about it. My hands bear the stigmata of nails being hammered into flesh by mistake. Animal hair is everywhere, finding its way into bowls of cereal. The mess is prodigious, the banging — and swearing — endless.

But even so. When I am gouging out old tacks, I can stay focused for hours. I never feel even the slightest desire to check my emails. Afterwards I am left with a deep contentment.”

Certainly, not everyone will, and can, relate to her experience. I, for one, am not a handyman, fix-it type. But I guess the point we can take away from this is that, whether in a paid job or as a hobby, one should engage in an endeavour so engrossing that you find yourself working without counting the minutes. Lucy continues:

“This proves to me what I’ve long suspected: losing yourself is a far better idea than finding yourself. I have also known for ages that work is the best sort of losing yourself there is — you don’t feel hungover or guilty afterwards. But what I didn’t know is that upholstery offers more than total self-loss. With hammer in hand I am motivated and determined and a dedicated student.

What is it about this kind of work that makes it so perfect?

I can think of lots of reasons. First, it is solitary, so there are no bosses or underlings or tiresome people with their tiresome problems. Second, it does not involve a computer. Third, mending things is good for the soul. Fourth, seeing a result is satisfying; sitting on one is better still. Fifth, it is repetitive (so you get better) and Sixth, it is varied (so you never get bored.)”

My brief four centavos on her six reasons: 1) Solitary work can indeed be productive and tiresome people are indeed tiring. But solving tiresome yet challenging problems can be invigorating; 2) The key is balance; 3) Mending souls is a good thing; 4) A satisfying result is fulfilling; 5) “So you get better” is the operative phrase; I know of several who took up golf but quit because their game was not progressing, 6) “Varied” can be subjective. Lucy then finished her musings:

“My new career as an upholsterer lends some weight to the new, trendy theory of motivation espoused by Daniel Pin who says we yearn for three things in a job: autonomy, mastery and purpose.

My upholstery has autonomy, as no one tells me what to do. It has mastery as I’m improving all the time — my latest chair is really rather good. But does it have purpose? Mr Pink defines this as “our yearning to connect to something larger than ourselves.”

Here he’s got it wrong. I actually have a strong preference for working on chairs that are smaller than myself — the bigger ones are too hard. He may be right, through, to say that work needs a purpose — but then I can think of no more purposeful activity than making something that is safe to sit on.”

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Still speaking of work, DOTC Undersecretary Rene Limcaoco was recounting to me the challenges he is facing in government. A first time public servant but long time private sector practitioner, he laments the ridiculously low pay of public officers (not that he needs it) notwithstanding the heavy work load and great responsibility. Usec. Limcaoco believes that government has the resources to attract and keep top talent especially since efficiency will be increased and corruption decreased.

His thoughts mirror mine. To be fair, salaries have been increased although mid to top level management compensation is still way below their counterparts in the private sector. I had written about the concept of quantum meruit (“as much as he has deserved”) in our August 14, 2010 column. And in a presentation to the Management Association of the Philippines, I made the following observations:

As we all know, rational people respond to incentives. And so, before we even get to talking about getting people to do the right things, we need to get the right people for the right jobs. We need to abandon the mindset that the government is the dumping ground for the unqualified and unemployed. Rather, we must professionalize the bureaucracy and people it with professionals, through a clear selection process, where career progress is charted through merit (and not favoritism).

The money is there — unfortunately, it exists under the table. Instead of fueling the rent-seeking ways, we need to channel these funds legitimately through a competitive salary structure that is commensurate to the duties and responsibilities and assumption of physical and reputational risk of our public officers. And while money talks, treating people right talks louder.

With rational incentives, we can be reasonable and rigid with our demands. Clearer standards limit discretion, while increasing transparency and accountability. With an improvement in the latter, we can make stronger demands and impose swift consequences for inaction.

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“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” —Aristotle

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