Why we Work

In Knowledge@Wharton:

The Real Reasons We Work
In the new book Why We Work, Swarthmore professor Barry Schwartz challenges the assumption that people primarily work for the purpose of receiving a paycheck. Instead, he argues, when you talk with people who find their jobs fulfilling, money is not reported as a key factor.
In the following excerpt from Why We Work, Schwartz tells the story of a company that was able to find meaning and purpose in making carpet – by working to achieve a zero environmental footprint goal.

Confronted with evidence that so few people in the world get satisfaction from their work, we need to ask why. Two ready explanations come to mind. First, many of us believe that only certain kinds of jobs permit people to find meaning, engagement, discretion, and autonomy, and opportunities to learn and grow. If we take this view, good work is just going to be the province of the few—lawyers, doctors, bankers, teachers, software developers, company CEOs, and so on. For everyone else, work will be about the paycheck. It’s just the way things are. Us and them.  ....  "