What if work was play?
I have often thought about the distinction between work and play. This has also led me to think about the concept of retirement. Certainly I know that there are times when many of us have to quit doing a certain job because it is no longer physically or mentally possible to do it. Also the product or the skill to make a certain product may be become obsolete thus resulting in the need to help create, manufacture or market another product. Further, I understand the fact that many of us may associate work with earning a living – finding a way to put food on the table, pay for housing, and pay for all the other services and material goods which an individual or a family may need to survive and prepare the children or the injured person to take care of themselves and possibly a family. I know many men and women have done a job which was in a negative atmosphere and possibly injurious to their physical and mental health because they had no other way to attempt to take care of themselves and their families at the level that they wanted or desired. Still others work for a very low wage at a job which is back breaking, pays very little and seemingly unappreciated – a job which sometimes allows someone else to get rich. For example, depending on whether one is looking at statistics collected by a government entity or a research facility interested in how well farm workers are getting paid, one finds an enormous variance. On one site the highest average wage for farm workers was $21,000.00. On a site which recruits farm workers one find the promise of incomes two to three times that high. I choose farm worker because I have had some experience working on farms as a child and while in graduate school. I did not earn very much, but I always knew that a farm job with a low wage was temporary while I was on my way to something which was not as physically demanding and which paid enough to live. There were often times I enjoyed the work. In fact much of my life I have been blessed to find some measure of fun and enjoyment in whatever job I was doing at that time. Still, if I had thought that I had to do backbreaking, hard labor for minimum wage the rest of my life, I would think of it as work and not play.
Many people I know have “retired” only to return to work at their former occupation or profession. Many others have taken part-time jobs doing something less stressful than their former jobs. Still others have assumed the responsibility of caring for grandchildren part-time or even full time. Many are taking care of ailing parents or signing up for even more volunteer work. Some are taking courses offered for a minimal fee at local colleges. Then, of course, there are those who are fleeing wars, famine and other conditions without the benefit of retirement funds. They will be starting new jobs, often outside their professional training, to support themselves and their families. Retirement is not a consideration.
No matter what our choices regarding work for direct pay, most of us will still be cleaning house, grocery shopping, doing laundry, cooking, paying bills and taking care of family, friends and neighbors. We may not think of these tasks as work. We may need to remind ourselves of the basic definition of work from the standpoint of physics. Wikipedia gives an excellent brief overview of the definition of work:
The work done by a constant force of magnitude F on a point that moves a displacement (not distance) s in the direction of the force is the product.
W = Fs
“For example, if a force of 10 newtons (F = 10 N) acts along a point that travels 2 metres (s = 2 m), then it does the work W = (10 N)(2 m) = 20 N m = 20 J. This is approximately the work done lifting a 1 kg weight from ground to over a person's head against the force of gravity. Notice that the work is doubled either by lifting twice the weight the same distance or by lifting the same weight twice the distance.
Work is closely related to energy. The work-energy principle states that an increase in the kinetic energy of a rigid body is caused by an equal amount of positive work done on the body by the resultant force acting on that body. Conversely, a decrease in kinetic energy is caused by an equal amount of negative work done by the resultant force.”
Thus it is clear that technically most of one’s activity including that which we label as play is work whether or not one is paid to do it. It is probably also clear to us that much of the activity one does is done voluntarily and, hopefully, often joyfully.
It would seem that the distinction between work and play gets more blurred the more we separate it from the particular job we do to earn a living. According to many studies, a high percentage of individuals report being unhappy at their jobs. A 2014 Gallup study revealed that:
The other findings of Gallup's 2013 State of the American Workplace report were grim; at best, 30% of the 150,000 full and part-time workers surveyed honestly enjoyed their jobs and their bosses. (reported in nydailynews.com (June 24, 2014) and in such magazines as Forbes).
Thus, we are not really talking about the distinction between work and play, but the distinction many make between their paid work (jobs) and their non-paid work. Many of those to whom I talk do not report dissatisfaction with their non-paid work although many do report feeling overwhelmed and isolated at times. The overwhelmed feeling seems to be related to the isolation. There is often no one with whom to share the work of parenting or maintaining a home. Even if there are two people in a home carrying for children, one or both are employed outside the home. They report that they feel they seldom, if ever, get a break. When exhausted, work may become as unsatisfying as the paid job. On the other hand, when reasonably rested, one might find great joy in child care, planning and preparing a meal, house cleaning or lawn care. If done with someone else who is also feeling good then one can play with the other person and incidentally clean house, do yard work or fix a meal.
I once suggested to family when they come home from a very long day of school, jobs, and evening school activities, i.e. sporting events, that they spend some time together visiting while they incidentally fix a meal. Often what had been happening was that the family would come home exhausted and someone in the family would volunteer to fix a darn heathy meal for the darn family. Other family members might start laundry or do some other home chores. By the time the family ate no one was in a good mood and no one got much nutritional value out of the meal no matter how healthy the ingredients. When they focused on visiting and incidentally fixing a meal together everyone enjoyed the time together and undoubtedly got more nutritional value out of the meal.
It seems to me that most people I know do not mind working. Unless a mental or physical disease gets in the way, most people seem to want to be a part of something larger than themselves and, thus, want to know how they can contribute to the overall system. When one feels as if one is being treated with respect and, thus, valued one will give 150% to a respective work task. Margaret Heffernan and others have clearly outlined how to design a job environment which maximizes teamwork and the value of every member of the team. In that atmosphere I am willing to wager that most enjoy their work, are productive, and take fewer sick days. The long term profit of the company is greater than when a company focuses on treating employees as machines who can easily be used up and replaced. Co-workers are, unless some other issue gets in the way, playful with each other and more creative in how they approach every task related to the job. Work becomes play.
Perhaps we need to remind ourselves of the purpose of play. We may associate playing with children. Those who have spent time around young children know that play involves exploring themselves, the world around them and the interaction of the two. All healthy children are naturally “little scientists.” They are not focused on competition with others but on doing their best to achieve each goal they set. Of course, children have no idea of some of the dangers inherent in exploring sharp object, stairs, fire or other potential danger and, thus, need some guidance. Children can explore for hours and get very excited about every discovery about themselves, the world they inhabit and the interaction of the two.
I think it is possible to create job environments which require and reward our ability and need to play. Obviously, I am not talking about spending job time playing unrelated video games, watching pornography or otherwise just distracting oneself. I am suggesting performing a job with the goal of exploring how we and our co-workers can do the best job possible, create a product of which one can be proud and which one knows will serve the larger community. This then is both play and work. We will, I know, continue to move beyond many of the jobs which require threats to the health and welfare of individuals. Still, as did slaves or those in concentration camps, one can use the song and a sense of community to make the job as pleasurable as possible.
In short, I think we can and need to continue to use the concept of play to create job environments which enhance rather than destroy the lives of those performing the particular task.
Written October 8, 2016
I have often thought about the distinction between work and play. This has also led me to think about the concept of retirement. Certainly I know that there are times when many of us have to quit doing a certain job because it is no longer physically or mentally possible to do it. Also the product or the skill to make a certain product may be become obsolete thus resulting in the need to help create, manufacture or market another product. Further, I understand the fact that many of us may associate work with earning a living – finding a way to put food on the table, pay for housing, and pay for all the other services and material goods which an individual or a family may need to survive and prepare the children or the injured person to take care of themselves and possibly a family. I know many men and women have done a job which was in a negative atmosphere and possibly injurious to their physical and mental health because they had no other way to attempt to take care of themselves and their families at the level that they wanted or desired. Still others work for a very low wage at a job which is back breaking, pays very little and seemingly unappreciated – a job which sometimes allows someone else to get rich. For example, depending on whether one is looking at statistics collected by a government entity or a research facility interested in how well farm workers are getting paid, one finds an enormous variance. On one site the highest average wage for farm workers was $21,000.00. On a site which recruits farm workers one find the promise of incomes two to three times that high. I choose farm worker because I have had some experience working on farms as a child and while in graduate school. I did not earn very much, but I always knew that a farm job with a low wage was temporary while I was on my way to something which was not as physically demanding and which paid enough to live. There were often times I enjoyed the work. In fact much of my life I have been blessed to find some measure of fun and enjoyment in whatever job I was doing at that time. Still, if I had thought that I had to do backbreaking, hard labor for minimum wage the rest of my life, I would think of it as work and not play.
Many people I know have “retired” only to return to work at their former occupation or profession. Many others have taken part-time jobs doing something less stressful than their former jobs. Still others have assumed the responsibility of caring for grandchildren part-time or even full time. Many are taking care of ailing parents or signing up for even more volunteer work. Some are taking courses offered for a minimal fee at local colleges. Then, of course, there are those who are fleeing wars, famine and other conditions without the benefit of retirement funds. They will be starting new jobs, often outside their professional training, to support themselves and their families. Retirement is not a consideration.
No matter what our choices regarding work for direct pay, most of us will still be cleaning house, grocery shopping, doing laundry, cooking, paying bills and taking care of family, friends and neighbors. We may not think of these tasks as work. We may need to remind ourselves of the basic definition of work from the standpoint of physics. Wikipedia gives an excellent brief overview of the definition of work:
The work done by a constant force of magnitude F on a point that moves a displacement (not distance) s in the direction of the force is the product.
W = Fs
“For example, if a force of 10 newtons (F = 10 N) acts along a point that travels 2 metres (s = 2 m), then it does the work W = (10 N)(2 m) = 20 N m = 20 J. This is approximately the work done lifting a 1 kg weight from ground to over a person's head against the force of gravity. Notice that the work is doubled either by lifting twice the weight the same distance or by lifting the same weight twice the distance.
Work is closely related to energy. The work-energy principle states that an increase in the kinetic energy of a rigid body is caused by an equal amount of positive work done on the body by the resultant force acting on that body. Conversely, a decrease in kinetic energy is caused by an equal amount of negative work done by the resultant force.”
Thus it is clear that technically most of one’s activity including that which we label as play is work whether or not one is paid to do it. It is probably also clear to us that much of the activity one does is done voluntarily and, hopefully, often joyfully.
It would seem that the distinction between work and play gets more blurred the more we separate it from the particular job we do to earn a living. According to many studies, a high percentage of individuals report being unhappy at their jobs. A 2014 Gallup study revealed that:
The other findings of Gallup's 2013 State of the American Workplace report were grim; at best, 30% of the 150,000 full and part-time workers surveyed honestly enjoyed their jobs and their bosses. (reported in nydailynews.com (June 24, 2014) and in such magazines as Forbes).
Thus, we are not really talking about the distinction between work and play, but the distinction many make between their paid work (jobs) and their non-paid work. Many of those to whom I talk do not report dissatisfaction with their non-paid work although many do report feeling overwhelmed and isolated at times. The overwhelmed feeling seems to be related to the isolation. There is often no one with whom to share the work of parenting or maintaining a home. Even if there are two people in a home carrying for children, one or both are employed outside the home. They report that they feel they seldom, if ever, get a break. When exhausted, work may become as unsatisfying as the paid job. On the other hand, when reasonably rested, one might find great joy in child care, planning and preparing a meal, house cleaning or lawn care. If done with someone else who is also feeling good then one can play with the other person and incidentally clean house, do yard work or fix a meal.
I once suggested to family when they come home from a very long day of school, jobs, and evening school activities, i.e. sporting events, that they spend some time together visiting while they incidentally fix a meal. Often what had been happening was that the family would come home exhausted and someone in the family would volunteer to fix a darn heathy meal for the darn family. Other family members might start laundry or do some other home chores. By the time the family ate no one was in a good mood and no one got much nutritional value out of the meal no matter how healthy the ingredients. When they focused on visiting and incidentally fixing a meal together everyone enjoyed the time together and undoubtedly got more nutritional value out of the meal.
It seems to me that most people I know do not mind working. Unless a mental or physical disease gets in the way, most people seem to want to be a part of something larger than themselves and, thus, want to know how they can contribute to the overall system. When one feels as if one is being treated with respect and, thus, valued one will give 150% to a respective work task. Margaret Heffernan and others have clearly outlined how to design a job environment which maximizes teamwork and the value of every member of the team. In that atmosphere I am willing to wager that most enjoy their work, are productive, and take fewer sick days. The long term profit of the company is greater than when a company focuses on treating employees as machines who can easily be used up and replaced. Co-workers are, unless some other issue gets in the way, playful with each other and more creative in how they approach every task related to the job. Work becomes play.
Perhaps we need to remind ourselves of the purpose of play. We may associate playing with children. Those who have spent time around young children know that play involves exploring themselves, the world around them and the interaction of the two. All healthy children are naturally “little scientists.” They are not focused on competition with others but on doing their best to achieve each goal they set. Of course, children have no idea of some of the dangers inherent in exploring sharp object, stairs, fire or other potential danger and, thus, need some guidance. Children can explore for hours and get very excited about every discovery about themselves, the world they inhabit and the interaction of the two.
I think it is possible to create job environments which require and reward our ability and need to play. Obviously, I am not talking about spending job time playing unrelated video games, watching pornography or otherwise just distracting oneself. I am suggesting performing a job with the goal of exploring how we and our co-workers can do the best job possible, create a product of which one can be proud and which one knows will serve the larger community. This then is both play and work. We will, I know, continue to move beyond many of the jobs which require threats to the health and welfare of individuals. Still, as did slaves or those in concentration camps, one can use the song and a sense of community to make the job as pleasurable as possible.
In short, I think we can and need to continue to use the concept of play to create job environments which enhance rather than destroy the lives of those performing the particular task.
Written October 8, 2016
RSS Feed