Stewart said Bezos discussed what he saw as the economy of the future, one that would rely on service workers to perform tasks. Stewart said he told Bezos he disagreed, adding that people wanted to feel proud of their work and like they were contributing to society, not just “running errands for people that have more than you.”
“I think he views everybody as like a part of a fulfillment center,” Stewart said. "And so I said, ‘I think that’s a recipe for revolution.’
What the point of having all that money if you aren’t Lord & Master over the serfs. Jon doesn’t understand Homo Sapiens. Having great success in business validates their fitness to lead & control.
“running errands for people that have more than you.”
That’s about how my decades of work sized up. Any time I actually tried to help the company and make a difference, I was effectively told “shut up and work”, even at the pump seal company, where, a year after I made a suggestion, they stole my idea and implemented it.
I’m not sure “meaningful” work is all it’s cracked up to be. Early in my work life, I had a job at a lumber mill, just after I dropped out of college. I loved the meditative quality of the work and having my thoughts to myself. The pay was great and the 10 hour work days in a 30 hr week,combined with a swing shift gave me lots of free daylight time to do as I wished.
And Steve, I hear you on thinking that by making yourself more useful or helping your employer to profit, that you would be appreciated and compensated. I had a job for 15 years that I kept because once again I had a fair amount of freedom. That same employer would yank the football every time though. My ship came in one day and all they saw was my dust.
Good question Captain. One can supply their own meaning. I did. Many folks aren’t happy unless they think they “mean something” to others.
It’s a tough question alright! In management they talk a lot about motivation but often don’t follow through. A good question is how to motivate a janitor. Cleaning toilets is not intrinsically motivational.
One suggestion was to give the janitor the authority to pick his tools and cleaning products and to let him pick the best times to get the job done. A microcosm of delegated authority vs. central planning. Don’t just talk the talk.
The Captain
Motivation, A Personal Story
In my very first job at IBM I had a mixed experience. During my first four years I was given jobs to do but seldom if ever told how to do them. When it came to coding and computers my managers knew even less than I did. I enjoyed every minute of it. Wanting better pay I asked for a transfer to sales. Based on my previous performance I was given a virgin territory and allowed to sell every IBM product line, they figured I would be able to develop it. But I had the misfortune to get a stupid ass boss who didn’t trust me. Developing the territory proved difficult but then came a break. An expert was coming to town to peddle IMPACT (Inventory Management software). I got the President of a sugar mill to host the conference. This was a terrific break! Before the talk could be given it was cancelled because the expert had to go home. I begged management to let me give the talk. I went all the way up to the General Manager but was denied. Total frustration. Some time went by and my idiot boss asked me to give a talk on IMPACT to an important client that was not in my territory. As I was preparing the flip charts my idiot boss told me they would not do. My abilities as an artist are entirely non existent. I was relying on very crude stick figures. My reply to my idiot boss was that either I gave the talk my way or there would be no talk. After the talk I asked him, coyly, how the talk had gone over. “Pretty good.” Then pissed off as hell I asked him, “Why didn’t you people let me give the IMPACT talk to develop my territory?” I was fired a short time later. I told the General Manager (a new one) who did the firing that I was glad to be fired because I was on the point of quitting and this way I would be getting double severance pay.
But the management stupidity didn’t end there. Before the interview was over the GM told me that General Motors was looking for a Data Processing Manager. He was willing to give me a recommendation! I asked him if he was going to tell them that I was a great employee who had just been fired? “No, I have no use for your recommendation.”
Four years of motivation followed by 16 months of Managerial Crap!
It was a fork in the road. While all this was happening two managers from IBM World Trade who knew me from the early days offered me the position of sales rep in Trinidad and Tobago with the promise of the post of Country General Manager if I met my sales quota. It was a handsome offer but I was too naive at the time to accept it. I told them that I was not liking the job of sales rep. IBM Country General Manager at 30? Not bad!
Stewart said Bezos discussed what he saw as the economy of the future, one that would rely on service workers to perform tasks. Stewart said he told Bezos he disagreed, adding that people wanted to feel proud of their work and like they were contributing to society, not just “running errands for people that have more than you.”
Stewart is misconstruing what a service economy is. If you’re not manufacturing something then you’re providing a service. Being comedian or a professor or a truck driver means providing a service.