What We Get Wrong About Work | Barry Schwartz, Revisited

We’ve spent decades designing work around the idea that people need incentives to perform. But what happens when the systems designed to motivate people actually get in the way of motivation? Professor Barry Schwartz has spent decades studying what makes work meaningful, and his research challenges the idea that money and performance incentives are enough. In this revisited episode, Dart and Barry explore what people really want from work, why pay-for-performance can undermine motivation, and what organizations can do to create work where people have the autonomy and responsibility to do good work.

In this episode, Dart and Barry discuss:
- Why Barry wrote Why We Work?
- How did we learn what people want from work?
- Lack of autonomy as a cost of employment
- How has Why We Work been received?
- How to protect against bias?
- Practicing autonomy with restraint
- The dangers of neglect in the workforce
- And other topics…

Barry Schwartz is an emeritus professor of psychology at Swarthmore College. He is the author of Why We Work, Practical Wisdom with Kenneth Sharpe, and The Paradox of Choice, as well as books on psychology, learning, and human behavior. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Guardian, Scientific American, and other publications.

Resources mentioned:
Barry Schwartz: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Schwartz_(psychologist)
Why We Work by Barry Schwartz: https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781476784861
Practical Wisdom by Barry Schwartz: https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9781594487835
The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz: https://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-Why-More-Less/dp/149151423X
Barry’s TedTalks: https://www.ted.com/speakers/barry_schwartz
Jeffrey Pfeffer: https://jeffreypfeffer.com/
The Human Equation by Jeffrey Pfeffer: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0875848419

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.