BN - Joanne B. Ciulla PDF

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Work and Life Joanne B. Ciulla In our society, work shapes your life and your identity. What you do, in other words, has a lot to do with who you are The questions “What do you want out of your work?” and “what do you want out of your life?” are important because they shape how you behave in business. Thinking about the meaning of work and life is not a touchy feely luxury in a business course - It will provide a foundation for thinking about how you should behave at work and how you understand the work behavior of others Typically, unethical behavior in business is the product of people who have lost their perspective on themselves, their work, and their lives Success in business, by contrast, is usually the dessert of people who know who they are, what they are doing, and why Some of the most profound insights about work and life, curiously enough, are to be found in the famous fables of the ancient storyteller Aesop, who wrote about animals who act, think, and talk like human beings - Fable - The Grasshopper and the Ant (Aesop) - The ants were employing a fine winter’s day in drying grain collected in the summertime. A grasshopper, perishing with famine, passed by and earnestly begged for a little food. The ants inquired of him, “why did you not treasure up food during the summer?” He replied, “I had not leisure enough. I passed the days in singing,” They then said in derision; “If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supperless to bed in winter.” - This is a cautionary table. It does not say that a life of work is better than a life of singing, but rather that if you want to sign, you have to be willing to pay the price. The issue here is self-sufficiency and fairness - if you don’t work, you don’t eat, and you shouldn’t expect others to feed you. - His story gives us a choice - You can lead the brief happy life of the grasshopper or the long prudent life of the ant. Yet it’s not wholly clear what the wise person should choose. Unlike the good Protestant who would come along later, Aesop was somewhat ambivalent about industriousness. Greed, miserliness, and covetousness sometimes accompany hard work. In another story, “The Ant”, he tells us that the ant was once a farmer who kept a jealous eye on his neighbor and stole some of his produce. - Zeus, angry, changed the man into an ant, and Aesop wrote, “Although his form has changed, his character has not, for he still goes around the fields gathering up the wheat and barely of others and storing it up for himself” - Aesop worried that industriousness, when motivated by envy can lead to theft, avarice, and miserliness Aesop was kinder to the grasshopper’s relative, the cicada.

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He said that once there were men who, when music was invented, were so happy that they just kept singing and forgot food and drink until they died. - From these men came the cicadas, who don’t require food and sing their lives away. - The muses smile upon the cicadas because their singing brings joy - While Aesop did not exactly endorse the life of the cicada, he expressed a somewhat romantic admiration - The cicada’s brief life is spent in pursuit of beauty The aesthetic virtues of the cicadas and the moral virtues of the ant come together in Aesop’s story called the “Ant and the Bee.” - In it, the bee and the ant have a dispute over who is more prudent and industrious - They appeal to Apollo for judgement - The god applauds the ant’s care, foresight, and independence from the labors of others, but he says, “it is you alone that you benefit; no other creatures shares any part of your hoarded riches - Whereas, the bee produces, by his meritorious and ingenious exertions, that which becomes a blessing to the world” Again we see chinks in the moral armor of hard work. It’s good to provide for oneself, but it is even better to contribute a pleasing and useful product for society We admire hard work much more if people do it for some purpose that lies beyond pure self-interest - The Buddhist scriptures use the bee as a model of environmentally responsible businessperson Aesop’s ant, grasshopper, and bee give us three ways of approaching life Frugal, acquisitive, and hardworking, the antlike worker values security above all else - He spends all his time working at a moderately interesting job, makes cautious career choices, has little involvement in nonwork activities, and takes few vacations and fewer chances - Like the ant, this sort of person saves for retirement, mortgaging certain enjoyments for 65 years of his or her life, in the hopes of making up for it in the last 10 or 20 - Ants work for the future, but don’t always know what to do when (or if) they reach it - The merit of the ant’s life plan is that his frugality saves him from want, prepares him for emergencies, and ensures self-sufficiency The Grasshopper lives for the present and sacrifices the future - His playing goes nowhere and leaves nothing behind - There is pleasure in a life of play, but is there meaning? - The bee works like an ant, but takes pleasure and finds meaning in producing a good and useful product that is appreciated by others - The bee symbolizes a life of useful and rewarding work, the ant represents a life of work and security, while the grasshopper depicts a frivolous life of play and

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uncertainty But why is it that “all play and no work makes Jack a big jerk”? - Today we sometimes legitimate play in a work-oriented society by playing squash to unwind, golf to woo clients, and basketball for cardiovascular health - Even animals aren’t exempt form non productive play - You may notice how the narrator of a Discovery Channel show solemnly explains to the viewer that the flolicking lion cubs may think that they are playing, but they are really practicing the skills that will make them good hunters. Plato suggested that play evolved from the desire of children and small animals to lean and run around - Think for a moment of the delight that children and puppies get simply from jumping up and down and running around for no particular reason Play is often illogical and/or inefficient - Games are intentionally inefficient - Example: If your job requires you to put little white balls into 18 holes, you certainly wouldn’t do it by separating the holes by several hundred yards and hitting the ball with a long, thin stick over lakes, hills, and sand traps - The point of golf is to get the ball into 18 holes in the most inefficient way possible - Getting the ball into the hole is important to the player, but just placing the gold balls in the holes serves no purpose whatsoever Play, like the cicada’s singing, is done for no reason, except, perhaps, for pleasure - While the Aesop’s grasshopper starves because he is irresponsible, the cicada is the “starving artist”; it starves for love of music - But the two fables convey different messages - Dying because of one’s love of art seems to have some nobility, whereas dying just because one prefers to play games does not - For most of us, the hard question is not whether or not to play (most of us would say, “of course”), but “given freedom to choose, what should we do with the time given to us in life?” There are 4 values that essentially shape how we make choices about work 1. Meaningful work, or work that is interesting and/or important to you or to other societies 2. Leisure or free time to do things you want 3. Money 4. Security These values carry different weights at different times in life - Ideally, it would be best to have a fascinating job, plenty of vacation time, a salary that allows you to buy anything you want, and guaranteed lifetime employment Since few of us have jobs that provide all these things, we make trade-offs and these trade-offs signify what we value most Consider the following thought experiment: - Suppose you are single and have just graduated from college. You have 4 job offers:

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The first is a well-playing position in an accounting firm, the second is with Amnesty International, the third is a civil service job, and the fourth is a place as a waiter at an Aspen ski resort that operates only in winter - Which would you choose? Your answer probably derives from another question: - What are you willing to give up if you can’t have it all? People who are driven by the values of meaningful work and leisure are often more willing to give up security and money People who insist on doing meaningful work often say that they do not really distinguish between their work and their leisure-time activities - What is important to them is doing what they want to do, whether for the value of the work itself or because of its significance Some people prefer leisure to meaningful work because they do not want to or cannot engage in the activity they love as paid work - They turn to other activities (hobbies, music, sports, and even crime) and other institutions (family, friends, church, and community organization) for the psychological rewards that they can’t get from work Meaningful work and leisure consist of activities that aren’t just instrumental, but are rewarding or pleasurable in their own right If you value money and security above other things, then work is primarily an instrumental activity, a means toward those ends - Ex: the accounting job may not be exciting, and few people ever make it to partner, but as a new graduate, you will make good money to pay off your college loans and buy a condo, nice clothes, and maybe a sports care - Those who value material goods above and beyond what they need to live comfortably trade leisure for overtime or a second job to buy extra cars and the like - Their pleasure in buying and owning things overrides their desire for free time Money is also important to those who value security, however, they value saving it over spending it - If you want security, the government job may fit the bill - Even though it may not be glamorous, and you’ll make less money than you would if were in industry, the benefits are excellent, you get all the standard holidays, and it’s relatively stable employment At different points in one’s life, different values dominate - The new graduate may choose the resort job, the single parent may choose between a challenging and time-consuming career and one that allows more time to spend with his or her children - Here, free time is more important than money or an interesting job Not everyone has a wide latitude of choice when it comes to work, leisure, and money; however, it is still necessary to reflect on what you value if you want to pursue a good life Leisure & Consumption Joanne B. Cuilla Leisure is a special experience

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○ It consists of activities that are freely chosen and good in themselves ○ Listening to music for pure enjoyment is one such pursuit Aristotle believed that leisure was necessary for human happiness ○ Aristotle said we conduct business (or are “un-leisurely”) so that we can have leisure Most people today think that we conduct business so that we can make money and buy things ○ Some trade time for leisure so they can buy more things Leisure brings out what is best and most distinctive about being human - our abilities to think, feel, reflect, create, and learn We need leisure to develop wisdom Language differences ○ Leisure In Greek = Skole ○ Leisure In Latin = Otium ■ The enlighs word leisure comes from the Latin licere, which means “to be permitted” ○ In both languages the word for work is simply the negation/opposite of the word leisure ○ Acholia and negotium= not leisure ○ In Spanish the word for business, means “no leisure” = negocio ○ Greek, Latin, and Spanish words compare work to leisure as if to say that leisure is the center of life ○ Our language compares leisure to work as if to say that work is the norm of life and leisure is when we are “permitted” to stop working G.K. Chesterton - Three parts of leisure 1. Being allowed to do something 2. Being allowed to do anything 3. Being allowed to do nothing Sebastian de Grazia Observed that although work can ennoble us, wear us down, or make us rich, it is leisure that perfects us as human beings Applied Aristotle’s notion of leisure, writing that “leisure and free time live in two different worlds” Free time refers to a special way of calculating a special kind of time Leisure refers to a state of being, a condition of man ■ It is a state of mind or attitude of imaginative people who love ideas ■ It is a special intellectual state that few people are capable of having ■ It is more than simply organized activities, amusements, relaxation, and free time Besides eating, sleeping, procreating, and getting ready for work, how we use our free time is a highly personal matter Class, taste, income, education, and personal preference certainly influence what we choose to do The prosperous and better-educated think that their leisure pursuits are more enriching

and self-fulfilling than those of the poor and the working class Work and Amusements - The Reformation, with its emphasis on work, did its best to make Sunday a boring day - Luther got rid of the saints and their holidays - The Protestants associated work with virtue and hence leisure with vice - In the Middle Ages holidays were times for music, dancing and drinking, but later, in Protestant countries, they became days for silence and meditation - In the 1640s the Puritans, who dominated the British Parliament, banned all Christmas festivities and enjoyments, including plum pudding and mince pie - In our own times, starting in the 1980s all workers began to lose holidays and paid vacation time, and some managers began acting like Scrooge on Christmas - In 1986, when Christmas fell on Thursday, 46% of employers gave workers Friday off - In 1997, when Christmas fell on a Thursday, only 36% did - Holidays are more than days off; they are supposed to be public celebrations - But the public can’t celebrate together if most people are working - De Grazia - Businesspeople liked the idea of making Sunday a dismal bore because that would make work more desirable - If leisure were too rewarding and too much fun, people wouldn’t want to go back to work - The Oxford English Dictionary - Defines Amusement as a pleasurable occupation that distracts or diverts attention from something - It comes from the word muse, which in this context means to be “affected with astonishment” or to be put into a “stupid stare” - In the industrial era the English took legal measures to repress popular amusements in order to develop conduct suitable for work discipline - The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 wiped out the infrastructure of working-class entertainment - By restring people to their parishes, the law effectively got rid of traveling balladeers, entertainers, and itinerant salesman - The 1835 Highways Act forbade all street “nuisances,” including soccer players, street entertainers, and traders - In the same year the Cruelty to Animals Act outlawed activities such as cockfights, but allowed fox hunting and other aristocratic pursuits. - Working-class amusements moved off the streets and into pubs, which began providing various forms of entertainment to their customers - Supporters of Prohibition argued that a shorter workweek would surely lead to more drinking - At the turn of the century, employers opposed giving Saturday off because they claimed that their employees would only get into trouble - Ex: In the early 1900s a Massachusetts firm required workers who were unwilling to attend church to stay indoors and “improve their time” by reading, writing, or performing other valuable duties.

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Mill owners of the time forbade drinking and gambling and justified the twelvehour day and six-day week as a means of keeping workers from vicious amusements - This was not a totally unfounded fear - Workers in the early industrial days of England often used their leisure time to drink, fight, and bet on animal contests, such as cockfights In early 20th century America, millions of working men spent their free time in bars and union clubs - There were more than ten thousand saloons in NY in 1900. - In Cheap Amusements, workingmen in NY spent about 10% of their weekly income on personal expenses, the bulk of which were for beer and liquor, tobacco, and movie and theatre tickets - An extensive study of workingmen’s leisure found that married men spent half of their free time with their families - Workingmen felt that their work gave them a “right” to amusements after work - “I worked for someone else all day and now I deserve to have someone or something work to entertain me” Women - Married women did not start going out for entertainment in great numbers until after the invention of the nickelodeon in 1905 - When young women found job opportunities outside domestic labor, they flocked to work in industry, department stores, and restaurants - Having grown up seeing their mothers work from dawn to dusk and observing domestic servants work 12-14 hour days, they too felt they had a “right” to outside entertainment - Working-women who loved to party were called “rowdy girls” in the Victorian era - They relished the freedom of going out with their friends, dancing and socializing in mixed company - Women also integrated amusements into their work - Female factory workers practiced the latest dance steps outside the factory during their breaks - Female cigar rollers insisted on having someone read the newspaper to them while they worked - Women became very protective of their work hours and filed grievances when asked to work overtime or when detained after closing time - Women workers were largely responsible for getting the workweek shortened for all workers - The more women worked by the clock outside the home the more they too felt entitled to a good time - something to distract them or take them away from work - Life became more segmented into bouts of uninterrupted work and bouts of amusement Not only did employers worry about the effects of workers’ leisure on job performance, they had misgivings about what might happen when employees socialized together outside work

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1914 - Henry Ford - Established a sociological department in his company - The department’s mission was to supervise workers’ lives so that they would be thrifty, industrious producers - They urged employees not to smoke and drink - Today’s reformers who want to control sex and violence on TV, cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol face an uphill battle - If people like to engage in these activities during their free time, they will until they find - or the market offers them - alternatives they like more Trading Leisure For Consumption - Stephan Linder - The Harried Leisure Class - Argued that in affluent societies, when people have to choose between free time and more spending, most choose more spending - That is why he believed that an increase in income is not necessarily an increase in prosperity - Example: - In 1986, Americans spent more than 13 billion dollars on sports clothing, which meant that they traded 1.3 billion hours of potential leisure time for leisure clothing - Spending money takes time - time to make the money, time to shop, and time to enjoy the things that money buys, such as cabin cruisers, package tours, etc - Americans not only have less vacation time than Europeans, but they spend 3-4 times as many hours shopping as Europeans do - Consumption ties a tighter knot between work and free time than any of the schemes of reformers, employers, or governments - William H. Whyte - Concerned about the organization man’s shallow roots in the community and deep roots in the organization - He didn’t calculate the way that consumerism and credit reinforce the grip of work on people - Consumption creates a need to work even when the desire to work is weak - However, i...