Work ethic?

PostRe: Work ethic? by **False** » Tue Jul 09, 2019 11:01 pm

I do it because I have to and I hate it

Corazon de Leon · PostRe: Work ethic? by **Corazon de Leon** » Tue Jul 09, 2019 11:20 pm

Karl, Can you please change your username to Karl_Marx?

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Mafro** » Tue Jul 09, 2019 11:21 pm

False wrote:I do it because I have to and I hate it

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Moggy** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:31 am

Karl_ wrote:"work ethic" is bourgeois propaganda

You need to become an active member of the hive Karl. Just respect the fact that some people are better than us and we have to work for them.

I think the CEO of my company earns 50x (at least) what I earn. So I put in 50x less effort. Seems fair to me.

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Moggy** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:31 am

Corazon de Leon wrote:Karl, Can you please change your username to Karl_Marx?

How has that not already happened? :lol:

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Jenuall** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:41 am

I enjoy my job and like the people I work with so I think that helps a lot - every day isn't a barrel of laughs or anything and it's very challenging at times, but I like having something to do that uses my skills and makes me think. I also like to think that what I do matters and doing it well is important and is recognised in a way that just clocking in and grinding it out wouldn't.

That said whilst we don't really have an opportunity for overtime in my line of work even if we did I wouldn't be that keen, even if the financial incentive was significant. Family time is key for me so I'm looking for ways to increase that not lose it! My job is also good in that it's quite flexible - if I need to leave earlier on a certain day or take leave at short notice then it's usually okay which is a huge plus - my employer treating me well in that regard gives me more encouragement to give more in return.

To the people in here who really don't enjoy their job - do you plan to (or can you) do anything about this or are you just looking at 30 years of grind? If I hated my job I would be looking at any opportunities to change that situation.

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Moggy** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 7:50 am

Jenuall wrote:To the people in here who really don't enjoy their job - do you plan to (or can you) do anything about this or are you just looking at 30 years of grind? If I hated my job I would be looking at any opportunities to change that situation.

While I dislike/hate my job, it almost certainly isn’t the job itself, it’s just working I hate.

I am sure there are things out there that I would enjoy, but being the first astronaut on Mars probably isn’t a very realistic career path for me.

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Tafdolphin** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:14 am

Karl_ wrote:"work ethic" is bourgeois propaganda

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Frank** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:24 am

In the grand scheme of things I enjoy what I do - We design doors for cars, so there's lots of CAD design and problem solving, which I'm good at. But on the other hand, I absolutely despise the working practises of our customer, and then by association, our company.

The program we're working on is already a year behind schedule, because the company is full of engineers who clearly don't communicate with each other, follow any of the correct procedures, or admit when they need help. So everyone just sits on problems (that I raise time and time again - "Oh, I don't see that as a priority", "we'll keep that under our hat for later", etc) until they become enormous problems where the bosses bosses boss has to get involved to try and resolve, which puts unneccessary stress on everyone down the tree. So thanks to that mentality, my work ethic is very much "I raised this months ago. Not my problem". I do as much as I can in the time I've got, and no more, and that's all I can do.

So the work itself is good fun. The company? Not so much.

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Christopher** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:29 am

I like my job and I am always looking to progress my career, however if I won the lottery I’d quit in a heartbeat. If my wife ended up earning enough to support us without my salary I’d quit.

Basically I work to live, but I make the most of the shitty situation.

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Errkal** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:30 am

I enjoy what I do for the most part.

I spend my day writing code for internal web based and windows form apps that improve how we support users in service ops (it) it’s good fun finding ways to automate stuff and getting to write from scratch rather than buying an off the shelf product.

I’m still learning it all really as I’m fairly new the .net and c# but I love it.

Sucks when I have to do end user compute stuff but that should be going soon as a newbie joins the team to take that stuff on.

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Winckle** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:31 am

Karl_ wrote:"work ethic" is bourgeois propaganda

I know you're being pithy, but there is something of a point that needs expanding here.

If you own your own business or the "work" you are doing is for your own benefit or hobby then you may find yourself especially motivated. I work in IT, working with server tech and scripting all day, but when I am working on my own side projects at home (like GRcade!) the work is much more satisfying and motivation becomes easier.

Marx called (part of) this alienation, because the worker was alienated from the outcomes of their labour (amongst other things).

PostRe: Work ethic? by **That** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:01 am

Yes, definitely!

I would only expand by asking, why did "work ethic" emerge as a virtue of personal character in the mercantile period, in which merchant-capitalism provided the burghers with the economic power to overthrow the feudal lords? A Marxist analysis goes: in material terms, the medieval bourgeoisie's political power depended on taking the value of the labour of the emerging proletariat. It's no wonder they were told "God wants you to work hard"!

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Lex-Man** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:03 am

Winckle wrote:
Karl_ wrote:"work ethic" is bourgeois propaganda

I know you're being pithy, but there is something of a point that needs expanding here.

If you own your own business or the "work" you are doing is for your own benefit or hobby then you may find yourself especially motivated. I work in IT, working with server tech and scripting all day, but when I am working on my own side projects at home (like GRcade!) the work is much more satisfying and motivation becomes easier.

Marx called (part of) this alienation, because the worker was alienated from the outcomes of their labour (amongst other things).

I don't know, I find the learning part the most motivating. When I'm actually using my acquired knowledge I quickly get quite bored.

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Errkal** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:09 am

That’s sounds like a great way to excuse laziness. “Sorry I’m not motivated because I’m separated from the end goal of the company.”

Where I am what I do doesn’t increase premium income as such but that doesn’t matter, my outcome is improving how may not of the company works, so I’m motivated by making it work better, perform better, break less, more reliable whatever, it doesn’t matter too much what the company is doing to motivate me.

I think this is where I start drifting right politically, I’ve always been of the opinion that you are paid to do a job so should get on with it. I realise things like wellbeing impact performance and they are important but ultimately you have a job and you should do it. It really narks me when you have people that sit on tasks rather than just doing them, I don’t think it’s because they are alienated from their outcomes, they are lazy.

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Moggy** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:28 am

Errkal wrote: I’ve always been of the opinion that you are paid to do a job so should get on with it.

Posted at 9.09am on a Wednesday.....

PostRe: Work ethic? by **That** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:29 am

@Errkal: It's great that you get personal satisfaction from making your company more profitable for no extra pay. I'm happy for you.

I don't think it's right to suggest people who don't are morally deficient. They aren't slighting you, they're just... doing their shitty capitalist job they probably don't really like. Let them get on with it.

PostRe: Work ethic? by **OrangeRKN** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:30 am

Laziness is a lack of motivation, they're the same thing. Alienation can certainly be a cause of that lack of motivation. I think calling it an explanation rather than an excuse is better terminology, because an excuse suggests it is being used as a crutch to justify some other underlying laziness. In so much as some people are predisposed to put in more effort than others under otherwise similar circumstances, you can call some people lazier than others, but dismissing motivation as a factor in people's behaviour seems fundamentally wrong to me. Everything is driven by motivation.

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Errkal** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:33 am

Moggy wrote:
Errkal wrote: I’ve always been of the opinion that you are paid to do a job so should get on with it.

Posted at 9.09am on a Wednesday.....

I’m on leave this week

PostRe: Work ethic? by **Moggy** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:35 am

Errkal wrote:
Moggy wrote:
Errkal wrote: I’ve always been of the opinion that you are paid to do a job so should get on with it.

Posted at 9.09am on a Wednesday.....

I’m on leave this week

And you never post during working hours?

Work ethic?

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