Humans are inherently individualistic, there always has to be “something in it for me”. Usually, that something is money. After all, our individualistic wants and needs have been manufactured for us by the capitalist society in which we live. We work for monetary gains.
It is an intrinsic part of society, being taught through every agency that the desired life is one of wealth, and materialistic means to flash at every opportunity. The age of celebrities has allowed children to aspire for wealth through unconventional means, the status of acquired wealth deriving from charisma and beauty.
Do you remember Rylan Clark-Neal on The X-Factor? Was he a good singer? No. But, charisma poured from his lips as he sang to a mass audience, providing the show with campy-entertainment at his own expense, and it paid off for him! He managed to qualify, and subsequently win Celebrity Big Brother, having officially acquired the idealised status of celebrity. And now, just under a decade after being on The X-Factor, he is a familiar face for many who have spectated his career growth, hosting several popular and or prime-time TV shows such as This Morning, Ready Steady Cook and Supermarket Sweep. Who would have thought it back when he had long glossy blond hair, singing ‘Kissing You’ in the O2 Arena?
The question is, how does “Keeping Up With The Jones’” become “Who Cares About The Jones’”?
You might be unsure of what I mean by this, but, in Daniel Pink’s book, The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (2009), he explores the concept of monetary gains and how it influences work ethic. At a point, the idea of financial gains ceases to motivate the individual to think outside of the box, and instead, they are influenced by something else: the opportunity to think outside of the box.
What this means is, that although many may continue to work in a company, collecting their pay and continuing to elude to that plush lifestyle with the fast car, expensive house and purebred dog, is the work they’re doing fulfilling, or are they just stuck in the cyclical rut of an unengaged working life?
Living for the façade is valid, but, does it provide you with a sense of fulfilment? Pink suggested that the three core motivators at the workplace are autonomy, mastery and purpose. But what does this mean. ‘Autonomy’ is a term used to describe the freedom to act on your own. ‘Mastery’, in this context refers to the idea that an individual is constantly improving and honing their skills in a field by being gradually pushed out of their comfort zone each day. While ‘Purpose’ explores the idea of feeling that what you are contributing to actually has a wider value.
Perhaps a sense of youthful optimism runs in my veins, or perhaps it has to do with my field of study, but I struggle to enjoy something that I am not invested in, so I yearn to build a foundation of passion within all of my endeavours. Pink would suggest that this means that I am already predisposed to the idea of wanting to work in an agile space, where I can feel fulfilled and motivated by what I see around me. Monetary gains being lower on my personal priority list.
What Pink proposes is that by allowing workers to feel that they are autonomous, that they are working toward mastery, and that their role has a purpose, not only as a cog in the corporate machine, that they will be more motivated, come up with new ideas, feel as if they can share them. And, even better, when in an agile workplace, this would be further heightened by the idea of being able to work in a constant stream of idea sharing, feedback, workshopping and subsequent progress, and, that this would serve as a greater means to elevate the mood of the workplace, and improve the workplace culture.
As I said, perhaps its youthful optimism, but the Jones’ can mind their own business!
Based in London, U.K., and founded in 2016 by Arvind Mishra The Agile Works (www.TheAgileWorks.com), is an up-and-coming recruitment and Agile consulting company. Arvind is a Certified SAFe SPC and regularly delivers both private and public SAFe certification workshops.
He is a design thinking expert, Sr. enterprise, portfolio Agile Coach with over a decade of experience working as an Agile coach in diverse industries such as banking, pharma, retail, auto, oil, gas, consulting and government.
The Agile Works; a small team of three strive to help shape the leadership's mind-set and values in readiness for their business transformation journey challenges. With Arvind at the helm, we strive to provide you with the agility tools to make your company that can thrive, and not just survive.
To book a consultation, or for any enquiries, you can contact Arvind via the following email address: arvind@theagileworks.com
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