New Project

Recently, I have been cornering all my family members, friends, and associates: Do you have a minute?

I usually do not wait for a reply. I bellow, "Good!" and then plug in my laptop and start my presentation.

The economic act takes up a good part of our lives. I could not help noticing, however, that I seemed to have struck a Mephistophelian bargain with most of my employers. In exchange for 51 weeks of labor, I was entitled to 1 week of leisure. Sometimes when working even two jobs, I was paid just enough for a bare level of subsistence.

I seriously considered Thoreau's solution of heading out to the woods and squatting on a piece of land. I would build a yurt, not a cabin--for I have limited carpentry skills--and plant beans and potatoes.

Then it dawned on me that I never enjoyed mowing the lawn, much less gardening, and that a diet of beans and potatoes was too close to prison fare.

There must be a better way. The joys of Capitalism notwithstanding, there must be a way to get more out of a job than just the means of subsistence and a yearly jaunt to the Hawaiian Islands.

I am currently employed as a manager in the hospitality industry. I am now entitled to three weeks of vacation and I can afford to travel more frequently. I have come to appreciate the finer things in life. As much as anyone, I enjoy sitting in the lap of luxury.

And yet I must confess that I was not truly happy. I could no longer blame Capitalism entirely. The problem seemed to lie within.

A colleague suggested that I read Daniel Pink's book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. The ideas presented resonated within me.

Since a manager must find a way to motivate his employees to work for him, I began to look at the workplace as a laboratory. I wanted to discover a way to tap into an employee's true potential.

If the theories outlined in Drive were true, I should be able to create a work environment that encouraged employees to find their own way. The result would be a motivated work force that would effectively accomplish the task at hand.

So, do you have a minute?

GOOD!