Today The CS Monitor published an op-ed piece I wrote called “Yes, you can be happy at work” which talks about the difference between American and Scandinavian attitudes.
A quote:
“You get paid to do your job, not to like it,” seems to be the attitude of most US managers and workplaces. What’s worse, American employees seem to be willing participants in this arrangement. When I ask Americans what makes them happy at work, they rarely talk about the work itself – many tend to see it as a means to an end, rather than as something to enjoy.
The result is that US workplaces are dominated by status-seeking career climbers, where the paycheck is the only motivator, where employee turnover is shockingly high, where bad management is never challenged, where burnout and cynicism are the order of the day, and only Dilbert comic strips provide relief.
Click here to read the whole thing.
It’s inspired by this earlier post about my experiences from a recent trip to America.
Before the paper would publish it, I had to agree to a few edits though. For instance this line didn’t make it into print:
In fact, recent studies have Denmark leading the lists of happy nations – so eat it, Sweden!
Though I kinda figured it wouldn’t :o)
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