Why do we do it?

“Everything is free now
That's what they say
Everything I ever done
Gonna give it away
Someone hit the big score
They figured it out
That we're gonna do it anyway
Even if doesn't pay”[1]”

So lamented Gillian Welch and David Rawlings back in 2001, in response to the rise of peer to peer music streaming services. With no record label contract at the time, they were fearful for their future, and their ability to sustain themselves through their art.  While scared and angry, like many artists before them and since, they did not stop their chosen job of writing music – they “did it anyway”.  It’s a powerful and beautiful song that talks to the passions that drive human behaviour. 

Why do we go to work?  That’s a question that I’m guessing is asked on Monday mornings more often than any other day of the week!  For some, like Welch and Rawlings, their profession and their motivation to work is scarcely a choice – it’s as if the job chose them.  For most, it’s a blend of reasons.  Pragmatically of course, we need to pay the electricity bill and put food on the table, but it’s rare for the reward we take from work to be money alone.  What then? 

Most of us like being with other people, making friends, being part of team. That leads to pursuing a strategy and goals; along with the growth that comes from striving for that – and hopefully the satisfaction that comes from success.  While some enjoy imposing order on established situations, others find pleasure in creating new products, services and ways of thinking and working that challenge existing precedent.  (All power to them!)  For others, their pleasure lies in the connection with their clients.  I think of financial advisers bringing clarity to anxious investors or a lawyer providing advice to a business client trying to navigate complex regulation.

For most people I’m sure that sense of helping others and making a difference is key.  We want to be of service and to feel valued.

My children are at an age where they are just starting their careers, or are choosing tertiary subjects with an eye to what their future careers may be.  The mothers and fathers reading this article may relate to the feelings this time of life invokes in a parent; the hope that your children find work that they can be passionate about, admiration for the courage they show in the face of setbacks, and the anxiety about whether their work choices will sustain and stimulate them throughout their lives. Why is it we worry more about them than we worried for our own prospects at the same stage of life?  Is there more to worry about today?  I could mount a cogent argument in either direction…

So what of ourselves?  What was it about the shining periods in our working lives thus far which has us look back at and say, “that made me truly happy”?  Thinking about the here and now, what aspects of our current work feed our appetites for challenge, for purpose, for enjoyment?

Monday morning is not a bad time to identify and reflect on those aspects of work that give us pleasure - and to be consciously grateful for them. 

For those reading this article who may be looking for work, hang in there – we hope and trust that the rewards that you seek in work are not too far away.

[1] Everything Is Free:  Words and music by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, 2001.

Postcript:
For those that do not know the music of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, they could not find a record label to sign them, so started their own.  The song “Everything is Free”, quoted above, was released as part of an album called “Time (The Revelator)” which was critically lauded and somewhat ironically made it to No 4 on the Billboard Internet Albums charts – which ranks physical albums ordered through Internet merchants.  Turns out the internet was not all bad!  Welch and Rawlings are not highly prolific but have gone on to develop a worldwide following and have toured widely, including to Australia.  Having attended their Sydney concert on their last visit, I can truly say it was sublime.  If you ever get a chance to attend one of their concerts, then as Molly Meldrum used to say, “do yourself a favour….”