-
Unit
6
Warm-Up
Questions
1. Why do we need to work?
2. There is a saying that all work and
no play makes Jack a dull boy. But
is
the opposite also true?
3. What are the
things you personally look for in choosing a
career?
Do you view work as a
burden or an opportunity? Are you the kind of
person who looks for ways to
save your
energy or the kind that finds spending your energy
satisfying? Why do people like to complain
about work? Find the answers in the
following essay.
Why people work
Leonard R. Sayles
Jobs
and
work
do
much
more
than
most
of
us
realize
to
provide
happiness
and
contentment.
We
’
re all used to thinking
that work
provides the material things
of life
—
the
goods and services that make possible
our modern civilization. But we are much less
conscious
of
extent
to
which
work
provides
the
more
intangible,
but
more
crucial,
psychological
well-being
that can make the difference between a full and an
empty life.
Historically,
work has been associated with slavery and sin and
punishment. And in our
own day we are
used to hearing the traditional complains:
“
I
can
’
t wait for my vacation
,
”
“
I
wish I could stay at home
today,
”
“
My boss
treats me poorly
，
”
“
I
’
ve got too
much work to do
and not enough time to
do it.
”
Against this
background, it may well come as a surprise to
learn
that
not
only
psychologists
but
other
behavioral
scientists
have
come
to
accept
the
positive
contribution of
work to the individual
’
s
happiness and sense of personal achievement. Work
is
more than a necessity for most human
beings; it is the focus of their lives, the source
of their
identity and creativity.
Rather than a punishment or a burden, work is the
opportunity to realize
one
’
s
potential.
Many
psychiatrists
heading
mental
health
clinics
have
observed
its
heading
effect. A good many
patients who feel depressed in clinics gain
renewed self
–
confidence
when
gainfully
employed
and
lose
some,
if
not
at
all,
of
their
most
acute
symptoms.
Increasingly,
institutions dealing with mental health
problems are establishing workshops wherein those
too
sick to get job in
“
outside
”
industry can
work, while every effort is exerted to arrange
“
real
”
jobs for those well enough to work
outside.
And
the
reverse
is
true,
too.
For
large
numbers
of
people,
the
absence
of
work
is
harmful to their health.
Retirement often brings many problems surrounding
the
“
What do I do
with myself ?
”
question, even though there may be no financial
cares. Large numbers of people
regularly get headaches and other
illnesses on weekends when they
don
’
t have their jobs to go
to,
and
must
fend
for
themselves.
It
has
been
observed
that
unemployment,
quit
aside
from
exerting financial pressures, brings
enormous psychological troubles and that many
individuals
deteriorate rapidly when
jobless.
But
why?
Why
should
be
work be
such
a
significant
source
of
human
satisfaction
？
A
good share of the answer rests in kind
of pride that is stimulated by the job, by the
activity of
accomplishing.
Pride in Accomplishment
The
human being longs for a sense of being
accomplished, of being able to do things,
with his hand, with his mind with his
will. Each of us wants to feel he or she has the
ability to
do something that is
meaningful and that serves as a tribute to our
inherent abilities.
It is easiest to see this in the
craftsman who lovingly shapes some cheap material
into an
object that may be either
useful or beautiful or both. You can see the
carpenter or bricklayer
stand aside and
admire the product of his personal skill.
But even where there is no obvious end
product that is solely attributable to one
person
’
s
skill,
researchers have found that employees find pride
in accomplishment. Our own research in
hospitals suggests that even the
housekeeping and laundry staffs take pride in the
fact that in
their own ways they are
helping to cure sick people
—
and thus
accomplishing a good deal.
We
’
re
often
misled
by
the
complaints
surrounding
difficult
work;
deep
down
most
people
regard
their
own
capacity
to
conquer
the
tough
job
as
the
mark
of
their
own
unique
personality. Complaining is just part
of working. After all, how else do you know who
you are,
expect
as
you
can
demonstrate
the
ability
of
your
mind
to
control
your
limbs
and
land
and
hands
and words? You are, in significant measure, what
you can do.
Some
are
deceived
into
thinking
that
people
like
to
store
up
energy,
to
rest
and
save
themselves as much as possible. Just
the opposite. It is energy expenditure that is
satisfying.
Just watch an employee who must deal
with countless other people became his or her
job is at some central point in a
communications network; a salesman at a busy
counter, a stock
broker
on
the
phone,
a
customer
representative.
They
will
tell
you
how
much
skill
and
experience it takes to answer countless
questions and handle various kinds of persistence
every
hour of the day. Not everyone can
interact with such persistence and over long
hours, but those
who
do,
pride
themselves
on
a
distinctive
ability
that
contributes
mightily
to
running
of
the
organization.
But work is more than accomplishment
and pride in being able to command the job ,
because expect for a few craftsmen and
artists most work takes
place
“
out in the
world
”
，
with
and through other people,
Esprit de corps
Perhaps an example will make the point:
I
remember
viewing
a
half
dozen
men
in
a
chair
factory
whose
job
it
was
to
bend
several pieces of steel and attach them
so that a folding chair would result. While there
were ten
or
twelve
of
these
“
team
”
that
worked
together,
one
in
particular
was
known
for
its
perfect
coordination
and lightning-like
efforts.
The
men
knew
they
were
good.
They
would
work
in
spurt for twenty or thirty minutes
before taking a break
—
to show themselves, bystanders and
other
groups
what
it
was
to
be
superbly
skilled
and
self
–
controlled,
to
be
the
best
in
the
factory.
When I talk with
them, each express enormous pride in being a part
of the fastest, best
team.
And
this
sense
of
belonging
to
an
accomplished
work
group
is
one
of
the
distinctive
satisfactions of
the world of work.
One
further
word
about
work
group
satisfactions.
Unlike
many
other
aspects
of
life,
relationships
among
people
at
work
tend
to
be
simpler,
less
complicated,
somewhat
less
emotional.
This
is
not
to
say
there
aren
’
t
arguments
and
jealousies,
but,
on
the
whole,
behavioral research discloses that
human relations at work are just easier, perhaps
because they
are
more
regular
and
predictable
and
thus
simpler
to
adjust
to
than
the
sporadic,
the
more
intense
and
less
regular
relationships
in
the
community.
And
the
work
group
also
gently
pressures
its
members
to
learn
how
to
adjust to
one
another so
that the
“
rough
edges
”
are
worked off because people know they
must do certain things with and through one
another each
day.
Beyond the team and the work group,
there is the organization, whether it be company
or hospital or university. The sane
pride in being part of a well - coordinated,
successful unit is
derived
from
being
part
of
a
large
collectivity.
Working
for
a
company
that
is
thought
of
as
being
one
of
the
best
in
the
community
can
provide
employees
with
both
status
and