WHY ARE WE FRUSTRATED WITH OUR JOBS?
1. OUR INSTINCTS IN ACTION:
I
bet there is a joyful and exited stage in many people’s lives as they were just
hit with a job offer and landed into an office building. New people, new
places, new targets and even money starts coming in. On the pay day you just
feel like you have accomplished a great deal in your life. Just as the days
passes by months and years passes by slowly a shadow of gloominess starts
invading your life. All of a sudden one day the same office, same people and
the same work which you were much excited about, at a point of time now seems
to be boring. Your monotonous daily routine starts draining your energy. Have
you ever thought of why? The reason is YOU.
What?
Are you kidding me? Why would I make a hell out of my life? I know that’s exactly
what you want to say. But tell me why do you feel differently about the same
thing at different points of time in your life? The answer is it’s the way your
brains are hardwired. When our ancestors used to live as hunter gatherers in African
savannas, Mother Nature have ensured their survival by coding in instinctive functionalities
into their brains. One of them is the desire for novelty and the search for new
and exciting things around him. This created an instinctive desire to try new
foods, desire to explore his surroundings, have a desire to mate with many
woman etc., So that he could enhance his chances of survival and evolution. Floating
back to concrete jungle and corporate eco system we still instinctively search
for this novelty, which when not met creates a sense of boredom and frustration.
2.
INDUSTRIALIZATION:
After
the Second World War the economies of many countries were down to their knees.
The only chance of a country to exist is to stabilize their economy as soon as
possible. This inculcated a desire for secured financial conditions and a need
for steady growth. The governments, the leaders, the policies and the entire economy
have embraced this need for stability and security.
Then
came the industrial revolution where the mindsets and the skills of people were
also manufactured by the schools and society. They were made to fit into the
community’s and economy’s requirements. The sole purpose was work like a
machine and produce. I say the Humachines were the need of the need hour.
Once
the globalization has been reached and many countries have attained as status
of developed countries and developing countries, but the production of
Humachines is still on. But let me remind you that they still are humans, at
least partly. This is creating a
conflict between the instincts of the human nature and the requirements of the manmade
economy.
3.
MASLOW’S
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS:
I
strongly believe that the Maslow’s theory of hierarchy needs a revision.
Because it has not considered a key aspect of the rate of change of human
needs. Of course it has explained the hierarchy of the requirements of humans,
but it has not explained to what extent a need of human being will remain in a
particular stage of the hierarchy.
Assume
that a person has got into a new job with an x amount of pay. But very soon his
expenditure would reach y amount where in y would be definitely be greater than
x. The rate of change of this difference will always be in the positive
direction only. Once he reaches x+1, his requirements would reach y+1 similarly
x+n and y+n. This degree of difference and the rate of change are the
parameters which would decide that how long a person would be happy with his
new job.
All
human beings crave for a sense of belongingness, a sense of accomplishment, a
sense of control over his life. But when he is put to the discretion of the
policies of the company, whims and fancies of his boss, square peg in a square
hole attitude of the society. It is for sure that he would get a great amounts
of stress built up in his psyche. But imagine that if all his energies can be channelized
into a particular task which has always fascinated him. This would give a sense
of control on his life, a sense of accomplishment and a joy in to his life. And
if this task is noble enough to serve the greater good of humanity then
obviously that would be a source of satisfaction for him. So, getting things to
a conclusion if a person really wants to be happy and satisfied with his career
and if he is expecting lot more than 35 years of service and retirement from
his career, then choosing to be an entrepreneur is like choosing to live