13A. Billionaire Investor Warren Buffett on Self-Actualization
"I can certainly define happiness, because happy is what I am," Buffett told students at the University of Washington. "I get to do what I like to do every single day of the year. I get to do it with people I like, and I don't have to associate with anybody who causes my stomach to churn. I tap-dance to work ... I'd advise you that when you go out to work, work for an organization of people you admire, because it will turn you on. I always worry about people who say, 'I'm going to do this for ten years; I really don't like it very well. And then I'll do this ...' That's a little like saving up sex for your old age. Not a very good idea."

Steve Nearman, "The Simple Billionaire," Selling Power, 19 (June 1999): 48.

Questions: How do you interpret Buffett's remarks to the students? What would it take to help you achieve self-actualization? Is it possible that once you reach your "mountaintop" you will set your sights on a higher peak? Explain.

For further information about the interactive annotations in this chapter, visit our Web site /business/kreitner/management/9e/students/annotations.

Author Notes 13-A: Billionaire Investor Warren Buffett on Self-Actualization Do you know what it takes to make you happy? What kind of work gets you excited about what you're doing? Which people help build your enthusiasm when you work with them or spend time with them? If you're lucky, you find some or all of that in a job. I was lucky enough to find that in my first job, working for a radio station in Toledo, Ohio. The pay was bad, the hours sometimes long, and my boss was awful to work with. But the work ranged from fun to incredible, and the people were not just colleagues, they were friends and allies. I love much of what I do now, and most people would consider me more "successful." But I am no more self-actualized much of the time than I was then. Discovering an opportunity to be self-actualized in your work is pure luck. Don't ever stop looking for it, and relish it every time you find it.

13B. Is Everybody Happy?
... Do happy workers improve corporate performance? The Gallup Organization recently surveyed 55,000 workers in an attempt to match employee attitudes with company results. The survey found that four attitudes, taken together, correlate strongly with higher profits. The attitudes: Workers feel they are given the opportunity to do what they do best every day; they believe their opinions count; they sense that their fellow workers are committed to quality; and they've made a direct connection between their work and the company's mission.

Linda Grant, "Happy Workers, High Returns,"Fortune (January 12, 1998): 81. Also see Del Jones, "Rule-Breaking Turns into Boss-Training," USA Today (February 20, 2002): 1B-2B.

Questions: What would Herzberg likely say about this evidence? Is your own job performance affected by your job satisfaction? Explain.

Author Notes 13-B: Is Everybody Happy? Herzberg stressed the importance of meaningful, interesting, and challenging work to motivate employees. Having your opinions count and making the connection between your work and the company's mission would make work meaningful; getting to do what you do best every day would make work both interesting and challenging. The survey confirms Herzberg's perspective. Wouldn't you work harder if your work met the criteria mentioned in that Gallup poll? I would.

13C. What Did You Expect?


Results of a Fast Company Roper Starch online survey of 1,122 college-educated employees:

When you started to work for your current employer, did you think that your job would be ... ?

Mostly just a way to make money	12%
Meaningful, but not as meaningful as the rest of your life	37%
Just as meaningful as family life and other activities	46%
The most meaningful thing in your life	5%

Think about your job today. Do you think that your job is ... ?

Mostly just a way to make money	18%
Meaningful, but not as meaningful as the rest of your life	52%
Just as meaningful as family life and other activities	26%
The most meaningful thing in your life	4%

Overall, do you think that your job has ... ?

Exceeded your expectations	16%
Met your expectations	52%
Fallen short of your expectations	28%
Been completely disappointing	4%

Excerpted from "FC Roper Starch Survey," Fast Company, no. 29 (November 1999): 214-222.

Question: How do your met and unmet job expectations influence your job performance?

Author Notes 13-C: What Did You Expect? I know a number of managers who hate to hire someone for their first job, or even their first "professional" job because expectations are bound to be faulty. In many cases, the reality of work is disappointingly unlike our hopes going into a new job, particularly with entry-level jobs that involve "paying dues." Helping employees overcome disappointed job expectations is part of a manager's job. And it gets even harder as people move through their careers, and job disappointments sometimes turn into career disappointments. At that point, it's difficult to motivate anyone to high performance. Realistically, the people who simply love their work are rare and fortunate. In every job, there will be moments of pure pleasure, challenging times, and moments of tedium. If the moments of pleasure and challenge outnumber the tedium, you have a good job.

13D. Are You Aiming Too Low?
Gary Hamel, management author and consultant:

No company outperforms its aspirations. If most of your colleagues believe you are in a 5% or 10% growth business, you are.

In most companies the majority of individuals believe that there is some preordained, uninspiring industry growth rate.... The beliefs of your employees set the upper limit on what's possible.

Gary Hamel, "Reinvent Your Company," Fortune (June 12, 2000): 100.

Questions: How often in your school work and/or on the job have you penalized yourself by aiming too low? Which of your goals need to be adjusted upward? Is it possible to aim too high? Explain.

Author Notes 13-D: Are You Aiming Too Low? As an undergraduate, I decided that a "B" average was just about right--there was no point in pushing harder than that, and settling for B's would allow me more time to do extra-curricular things that I enjoyed. I never really paid that much attention to my GPA, and I graduated with a 3.01 average, a classic case of the self-fulfilling prophecy (our expectations tend to become reality). When I started my MBA, I decided to work toward a 4.0 average. I didn't think about it that much, but then I realized half way through that I had never gotten a B. Suddenly the pressure was on. By my last semester, between maintaining that A average and looking for a job, I'm still amazed that I survived. Find the right level--don't underestimate yourself, but don't kill yourself either. You'll know it when you hit it--motivated but still able to sleep at night.

13E. A Production Ballet at Honda
As a nearly completed StepWGN moves down the line, a worker jumps into the front compartment and pats carpeting into place around the front console. Then he uses an electric screwdriver to bolt the back seats to the floor, first fastening screws in front of the seat, then scurrying around to the back to fasten two more. Finally, he hops out of the vehicle again to affix two plastic pieces to the rear taillights and glues the nameplate onto the tailgate. This incredible ballet takes him all of 60 seconds--and if he's doing his job properly, he repeats it 60 times an hour.

Alex Taylor III, "The Man Who Put Honda Back on Track," Fortune (September 9, 1996): 98, 100.

Questions: How can management effectively motivate this repetitive-task employee? What would motivate you to accept this job at Honda?

Author Notes 13-E: A Production Ballet at Honda The fact that you are sitting in a management class probably means that you have already self-selected yourself out of a job such as this one. Performing a job like this really is a ballet--it requires a combination of grace and strength--the ability to stay in focus despite the repetition. What would motivate you to take on this type of job? Possibly, people who work in this type of job operate in the same sort of "zone" that regular exercisers experience. Maybe the money--in this type of job, high-school graduates can earn much more than many master's-level graduates, with terrific benefits.

13F. Back to the Opening Case
Which of the five core dimensions of work is most evident in the Medtronic case? How much does it probably impact employee motivation? Explain.

ANNOTATION 13-F: Back to the Opening Case Task significance is a strong and constant motivator at Medtronic. From the mission statement engraved on the new employee medallions to the tear-inducing testimonials from those people who have better and richer and longer lives thanks to their products, employees are constantly reminded that the work they do saves lives. I think I would be highly motivated if I knew my work had this kind of daily impact on others. And doing the work well would be critically important, because making a mistake could cost a life.

13G. Kiss a Frog? For How Much?
Would you kiss a stranger for $200? Of those surveyed, 37% said no. But 75% would kiss a frog for $50. Only 20% would fight a heavyweight boxer for $100,000. Fifty-nine percent would shave their heads for $10,000. Nearly a quarter of us would give up a friend's secret for $3,000....

And for a million bucks? Sixty-five percent of us would live on a deserted island for a year....

Amy Wilson, "Pricing Our Values," Money, 31 (February 2002): 24.

Questions: Some management theorists say, "money isn't a motivator?" How does this survey evidence affect that theory? What about values and ethics? What are the practical management lessons here?

Author Notes 13-G: Kiss a Frog? For How Much? Of course money is a motivator. If we didn't get paid, most of us wouldn't get up in the morning and go to work. The key is how much money, and to do what? Would I compromise my values for money. I know I won't. I've had the opportunity, and I've walked away. Would I do something that I don't want to do for money? It depends. As you go through life, it's important to know where your boundaries are--what you're willing to do just for money. And I can't believe that only 59 percent of people asked would shave their heads for $10,000. After all, hair grows back. And that million--is that before or after taxes?

13H. Lessons from Social Insects (Ants, Bees, and Termites)
...we believe that social insects have been so successful--they are almost everywhere in the ecosphere--because of three characteristics:

• flexibility (the colony can adapt to a changing environment);
  
  
• robustness (even when one or more individuals fail, the group can still perform its tasks); and
  
  
• self-organization (activities are neither centrally controlled nor locally supervised).
  
  

Business executives relate readily to the first two attributes, but they often balk at the third, which is perhaps the most intriguing. Through self-organization, the behavior of the group emerges from the collective interactions of all the individuals.

Eric Bonabeau and Christopher Meyer, "Swarm Intelligence: A Whole New Way to Think About Business," Harvard Business Review, 79 (May 2001): 108.

Question: What can this metaphor teach us about making self-managed teams more effective? Why do managers generally resist the concepts of self-organization and self-management?

Author Notes 13-H: Lessons from Social Insects (Ants, Bees, and Termites) Ants seem to know their business. They build hills, head for the sweetest stuff at a picnic, and generally survive en-masse in spite of our attempts to eliminate them from the face of the earth with everything from the soles of our shoes to harsh chemicals. Most teams know their business. Many have been at it for years, and everyone understands basics such as don't spend more than you have to and build what customers want. In some ways, with a good self-managed team, just like with ants, the key to success is to give them what they need and then get out of the way. And that's also the reason why managers don't like the ideas of self-organization and self-management. At the ultimate moment of self-managed team success, what purpose do managers serve? After all, how many ant supervisors have you noticed?

13I. Transparent Organizations
Peter Janson, CEO of AGRA Inc., a Canadian construction services company, says the three keys to excellence are speed, simplicity, and transparency:

Transparency is the atmosphere of openness and trust that helps turn a simple, speedy organization into an excellent company. It means letting go of command-and-control methods. It also means addressing problems openly so that they can be identified, analyzed, and dealt with early on. In a transparent culture, relevant information is shared with customers, employees, and shareholders, enabling these essential decision makers to make good, informed decisions.

Peter Janson, "Three Keys to Excellence," Management Review, 88 (September 1999): 9.

Questions: What does transparency have to do with participative management and open-book management? What are the major positives and negatives of organizational transparency?

Author Notes 13-I: Transparent Organizations In a transparent organization, there is less energy needed to succeed. People can focus on their jobs and survival rather than rumors and protecting themselves from back biting. If people know what's happening, good or bad, they don't worry about what they think may be happening. Any negatives? Only that if things go badly, everyone will know. This could cost a company customers, employees, and share value.

13J. In Search of a Balanced Life
In 1975, 48 percent of respondents rated work as "the important thing" versus 36 percent for leisure. By 2000 the numbers had reversed--43 percent chose leisure and 34 percent work.

"It's the movement from the work ethic to the fun ethic," says Thomas Riehle of Ipsos-Reid, a survey firm. But, as Riehle notes, the work ethic is not collapsing so much as the boundaries between work and leisure are blurring--a combination that often produces stress and confusion.

Robert J. Samuelson, "Fun Ethic vs. Work Ethic?" Newsweek (September 10, 2001): 43.

Question: What relative weights do you apply to work and leisure in your life? What sort of rebalancing do you need for a less stressful life? How?

Author Notes 13-J: In Search of a Balanced Life How do you define "leisure"? Is it running around and partying? Does time spent with your family count as leisure? How about a trip to Europe? Is exercise leisure? What about doing laundry? Talk to a mother of young children, and many will tell you that they can't wait to get to work so they can relax. I think the key to balancing work and everything else is to focus on what's important to you and the people you care about, and let the rest go, because you'll never have time for everything.