The Psych Files - Episode 92: Passion For Your Work is Overrated

Hmmmm . . . I like that I enjoy my work, and finding work that makes me happy, and that contributes to society, is important to me. But I still found this to be an interesting discussion.

Episode 92: Passion For Your Work is Overrated

by Michael on April 23, 2009

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Everyone tells you that you should have “passion for your work”. Personally, I think that’s a bunch of malarky, balderdash and hooey. And much of it could be the fault of psychologists. You might actually enjoy work that you never dreamed could make you happy. In this episode I talk about what Mike Rowe of the show Dirty Jobs had to say about work and how that ties into the research of psychologist Dan Gilbert (author of Stumbling On Happiness).

Just because things hadn’t gone the way I planned didn’t necessarily mean they had gone wrong…the secret is finding the balance between going out to get what you want and being open to the thing that actually winds up coming your way. - Ann Patchett in her book What Now?

Resources For This Episode

• Mike Rowe the host of Dirty Jobs, talks about the war on work in this video from his Ted Talks speech
  
  
  
  
• Dan Gilbert explains his ideas regarding how we all synthesize happiness in this video.
  
  
  
  
• Job Characteristics Model (developed by Hackman and Oldham) states that an improvement in 5 aspects of a job can increase motivation and job satisfaction. They are:
  • Variety
  • Identity
  • Significance
  • Feedback
  • Autonomy

Tags: The Psych Files, Episode 92, Passion For Your Work is Overrated, Psychology, work, happiness, Mike Rowe, Dirty Jobs, Dan Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness, Job Characteristics Model