I get why we tend to focus on business-related outcomes for topics like this, but I wanted to note that there is nothing wrong with Joy + Skill - Need outside of a business context.
I actually believe that seeking this out is a fundamentally great way to make yourself happier in general, which can balance out the apparent -Joy from your job.
It's not going to be possible for everyone all of the time to experience the perfect intersection of these three in a single context; their position and size will fluctuate over time, so it's important to find/create alternate sources to achieve that "ikigai"
For example I am pretty sure NodeJS would have been started as a "what if we..." rather than "this will improve dev productivity by X%".
In fact, "not need" might even be more enjoyable. I play the piano strictly for myself; if I "needed" to do it, it would completely change the activity in a negative way.
It's true I wrote this specifically for finding fulfillment _at work_, but that's a great observation. (Even more specifically, in response to that quoted Hackernews piece, and then my system for dealing with the same thing.)
You bring up a good point, though, that "joy" isn't just the immediate work at hand, but also the entire context that you're in. I agree with that. Perhaps the argument about work alone, makes sense under the assumption that the larger context is also compatible with your values. If not, perhaps no specific activity will be joyous, and joining a different organization is the only solution?
So perhaps "joy" is still a valid thing to seek, but you're pointing out that it's more complex than just "do I like my current task?"
It's this reality which leads to people inevitably feeling betrayed by a company as it grows - e.g. everyone thinking that "Don't be evil" was a thing Google could and would live up to after becoming successful. But at modern Google scale it is just not a realistic expectation.
There's always another path which is to take a more holistic look at life and say "I may not get a ton of joy from my job, but I source joy from other things that my job enables, so that's OK."
Which is why I think peer bonuses are a net negative. As the literature says, extrinsic rewards ruin things
I've never worked in a place that had them, but I do know an individual who views it as a source of pride to collect as much as possible from peer bonuses. According to him it's not about the money, it just helps ease impostor syndrome since it's quantifiable and therefore suddenly the only "real" feedback he gets. Since it's quantifiable it renders any soft feedback he gets from his manager worthless in comparison.
Not saying that's common, just saying that's just one of what must be many many interpretations of the incentive structure.
The Trap: Skill + Need - Joy resonated deeply and I'm going to do something to get the Joy back to +Joy this year.
One thing I noticed is that I dislike virtual meetings, especially regularly scheduled ones. So need to figure out how to navigate that if I do something new.
> Trap: Skill + Need - Joy This is classic burn-out. When you do the work all day, you feel drained and exhausted rather than energized (as you would if it were Flow = Skill + Joy). You do the work, because the company needs it done. You do the work, because you are undeniably great at it. Even though you hate doing it, you’d rather take it on yourself rather than foist it on others, whether because you want to “protect them from the drudgery8,” or because you believe they can’t do as good a job as you can, or because you can’t afford to hire someone. Because you create great results that the company needs, it doesn’t look like a problem—not to you, nor your team. But because you dislike it, you grow to resent it, and eventually you can’t face it, and you’re finished.
Nowadays I find myself exhausted even though I’m doing important and high priority work that the C-suite cares about. That paragraph articulated why I feel so burnt out with it now.
Thanks for sharing.
