Method
I spent a decade in tech organizations that prioritized profit over people, and I burnt out. I thought to myself, “There must be a better way to do this. How might we create a work culture that doesn't suck?” My search led me to get my Masters in Management Science at Stanford, where I realized a major factor of healthy work culture is human flourishing - a state in which all aspects of a person's life are good, including happiness and life satisfaction, physical and mental health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close social relationships. I didn't have meaning or purpose in my work, so I wasn't motivated to show up every day.
We're not flourishing at work in the US because we're conditioned by constraints:
- Entrepreneurs are conditioned to create business models that prioritize profit over everything else.
- Business leaders are conditioned to make decisions that reinforce the business model.
- Employees are conditioned to believe they can have profit or purpose, but not both.
Under these conditions, employees aren't intrinsically motivated to show up every day. They lose motivation and their productivity decreases, which leads to less profit and the company doubles down on prioritizing profit so it can survive. It's a vicious cycle.
But it doesn't have to be this way. There are many companies that use this cycle for good:
- Entrepreneurs believe they can profit while making a positive impact, and thus create a business model embodying both.
- Business leaders believe they can make decisions that support the company's mission.
- Employees see leaders supporting the mission, and believe they can do purposeful work in support of the mission too.
In this version of the cycle, employees gain motivation and productivity increases, which leads to company profit and financial sustainability.
What's demotivating your people?
Feeling stuck but not sure where? My services can help at every level of this cycle.