Podcast: Why The Standard Working Model Is Broken

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Sep 19, 2017

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The Standard Working Model is a term I use to describe how we work and how we educate ourselves and our children. Not only is it the predominant means by which we exchange goods and services, what we call work is how most people spend the majority of their lives.

We seek self-definition in our work, it becomes who we are. Work has become a means to an end. No longer is it something we derive gratification and happiness from, it is rather a toil. It is scunder on our free time.

We appear to occupy an eternal mode of dissatisfaction wishing we didn’t have to do it but we are compelled to do it.

We work less than gratifying jobs just to pay bills. Our lives and ultimate happiness is put on hold for the odd weekend away or two weeks in the summer. The system is broken. We need a fix.

Notes From The Show

This week on the podcast I’m discussing The Standard Working Model.

It seems to me we’re living in a vicious cycle of self imposed discomfort and anxiety where we endure careers that somewhere along the line we were convinced we needed to fulfill.

Be it in school or employment, we seem to be forever getting somewhere and never arriving. Success and happiness seem to be dangling on a string on the end of a stick that we just can’t reach.

It’s like one giant pyramid scheme with dopy punters like you and me picking up the tab.

Now I’ll accept that this is not the same for everyone. For some there is the fortune of realising true joy in their work at an early age. With forward looking parents they can realise the dream.

But for most of us it doesn’t go that way.

We’re born into a world that tells us there’s only one way. Do well in school and pursue a career and everything will be honky dory.

Trouble is that once we hit 40 we begin to question everything we have been led to believe is true about work.

Why The Standard Working Model Sucks | Larry G. Maguire
The standard working model is a creation of the industrial revolution where farmers and rural people were convinced by…larrygmaguire.com

What About The Ones That Don’t Fit In?

The education system we’ve got is good insofar as it has helped progress us as a society on to better things.

However, it’s not perfect. It’s not even close to perfect. It doesn’t cater for everyone and those who don’t fit in or are at odds with traditional education fall by the wayside.

How we measure intelligence appears to be purely focused on students’ academic ability. They do not for the large part take into account emotional intelligences for example.

Things are changing but they are changing too slowly.

We humans are habitual beings tending to stick to the way things have always been done. Therefore, not until we have a significant reason to change things do we begin to change our behaviour.

If we continue to train our children to live and work the same way we have for generations then we’ll never change this place for the better.

In this episode I explore the flawed concept that lies behind the The Standard Working Model.

Originally published at larrygmaguire.com on September 19, 2017.

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