Why We Work

Guest: Barry Schwartz, PhD, Professor of Social Theory and Social Action at Swarthmore College  Do you like your job? About seventy percent of Americans either flat out hate their work or are simply not engaged in the job, according to Gallup polls. Which means that the majority of us are clocking in every day eager for the minutes to pass so we can head home.  Not only are we not enjoying ourselves, we’re probably not getting as much done or doing as good a job as we would if we really enjoyed the work.  Social theorist Barry Schwartz of Swarthmore College says the trouble with work in America is the system we’ve evolved for making money since the Industrial Revolution. In our race toward efficiency and profits, we’ve forgotten how important it is for us to feel like our work matters and that we’re part of something great.