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July 25, 2018

How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog

How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog by Chad Orzel is your first, and best, introduction to quantum physics available in book format. Through funny interactions with his (speaking) dog Emmy, Orzel enlightens us on the basics of quantum physics. No previous experience or knowledge about physics required!

The book starts, and later ends, with a conversation with Emmy, the dog. Through this ingenious way, Orzel conjures up a simple, real-life example of actually really technical ideas. Each chapter has approximately one formula or equation. And the chapters all tackle one of the key concepts at a time.

The first chapter is about the particle-wave duality. Here Orzel helps Emmy with the problem of catching squirrels by running around a tree on both sides at the same time. Emmy is familiar with the following rule; material parts have wave nature and can diffract around objects, and she tries to exploit this feature. Some, or actually a lot, of explaining later, however, gives a disappointing conclusion for Emmy, going around an object at two sides at the same time, is only possible at the microscopic level.

Other huge scientific, and non-intuitive, findings are also explained in further chapters in an easy and comprehensive way. Some of the topics include; The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, Schrödinger’s Cat, The Copenhagen Interpretation, The Many-Worlds Interpretation, and Quantum Teleportation.

The beauty of the book lies in the simplicity of its examples and is a sign of a real expert doing the writing. Orzel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union College. Not only is he knowledgeable on what quantum physics is, he also devotes the last chapter to what it is not (e.g. subatomic healing). And in a later book (How to Teach Your Dog Relativity), he tackles even more mind-blowing science.

I have no formal education in physics, let alone quantum physics, beyond High School level. But the information is presented in such a comprehensible way that, when interested, this book makes for an excellent read. Read it on your next vacation!

The book:

How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog – Chad Orzel – ISBN-10: 1416572295 | ISBN-13: 978-1416572299

How to Win Friends and Influence People

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is a classic. That is all there needs to be said. It is a book that you can read, make notes in, and pick up every year. It has had a powerful influence on the way we think about other people, and ourselves. It was way ahead of its time in 1953 and is still topical more than a half-century later. A must-read for anyone interested in making new friends, acquiring new clients and customers, improve your conversation skills, and to win people over to your way of thinking. Brilliant in simplicity, it is the groundwork for self-improvement.

The book begins like no other. Carnegie encourages readers to make notes, to jot down in the book and read every chapter at least twice. By actively engaging in a book, you will be most involved and will remember more. Even before the book engages you to think about personal interactions, you have learned a valuable lesson applicable in all your further reads. The learning continues with chapters on topics like 1) How to interest people, 2) How to get cooperation, and 3) No one likes to take orders. One of the basic techniques featured in the book is to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. This is in total alignment with the fifth principle of leadership by Stephen R. Covey: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood.

‘You can’t win an argument’ is the clever title of the first chapter in the section about getting people to your way of thinking. After giving a lively example, Carnegie explains what is wrong with arguments. He states that nine out of ten times people will be more opposite towards each other than before the argument commenced. Even when you win, it will be an empty victory, because you will not get the goodwill. The chapter concludes with nine tips on how to prevent a disagreement from becoming an argument. In less than ten pages, a very important aspect of daily interaction has been explained, without jargon or unmanageable ways, but with simple language and clear examples and tips.

Dale Carnegie grew up as a poor boy without any special skills. He learned all the skills written in the book along the way of life. He shows that you can change yourself over the years. He was a firm believer that only 15% of your (financial) success depends on your professional skills, and that 85% is based on interpersonal skills, described as: the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people. To date, 16 million people have been influenced by the book. Among them is Warren Buffet, he followed the course related to the book, by Dale Carnegie himself, and to this day has the diploma in his office.

How to Win Friends and Influence People is a straightforward, no-nonsense, go-and-do-it book. It has been a life changer for many people, including the author of this review. Although it does not give much advice about how to implement the techniques, not much is actually needed.

The Book:

How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie – ISBN-10: 0671723650 | ISBN-13: 978-0671723651

More on How to Win Friends and Influence People:

http://erudition.mohit.tripod.com/_Influence_People.pdf – How to Win Friends and Influence People .pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TU1P2_I0iE – How to Win Friends and Influence People .wmv

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People – Wikipedia with chapter overview

http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/friends.html – Principles and Examples from the book

July 25, 2018

The Lean Startup

The Lean Startup: How today’s entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses by Eric Ries is a game-changer in business. Not only in start-ups, but also for big corporations. The book offers a framework for a new way of innovation. The main focus of the book is on building a product that customers want and need. Through ‘validated learning’ and constant experimentation, this will be achieved in the most efficient way possible.

Starting with a minimum viable product is one of the premises of the book. Ries states that when you have a product that has the core functions, but that needs a lot more work to look good, and function optimally, you have to release it. He states that in this stage you will learn the most from customers, people that actually use the product. In the book, one example is about a feature his company wanted to design. It would take an awfully long time to make, but they thought it would improve customer ratings and sales. But when testing a basic version of the feature, customers showed no interest in it. A large, and costly, development was prevented.

After the initial product launch, there are even more differences with normal product development. It involves continuous development (to speed up cycle times), split testing (giving out different versions at the same time), actionable metrics (versus vanity metrics), and pivot (a structured course correction). Through all these techniques, the cycle of ideas (you build), code (you measure), and data (from which you learn), back to ideas, will be shortened. This technique is not only beneficial for small startups but can also help big corporations develop new products and improve existing ones.

Eric Ries has every right to speak about the lean startup process. After two failed companies he co-founded (and became Chief Technology Officer) of IMVU (a 3D social network). With the company, he would update the product every day, up to 50 times. In 2011 the company has 40 million users and the same amount in revenue. Ries has moved on the work full-time on the lean startup movement and advises many global corporations.

The Lean Startup has a very catchy feel to it. When you read it, you want to go and start a new venture, do some experiments, and tell your friends about the book. It offers a framework for doing business in a new way without boring people with endless jargon. A large bank of examples also helps explain the more technical parts and give you an example to compare to.

The Book:

The Lean Startup: How today’s entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses- Eric Ries– ISBN-10: 0307887898 | ISBN-13: 978-0307887894

Built to Last

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras is the conclusion of 6 years of research by the authors on the best companies out there. They call them ‘visionary’ companies. Among the few that have made the cut, and have survived over decades, are Walt Disney, IBM, and Sony. The book has become an instant management classic and now 19 years after its conception is still ever relevant.

In Built to Last the authors have compared the visionary companies with similar companies that have been operating in the same industry and for the same time. They call them the runners-up or the silver medal winners of the industry. They have good reasons for comparing the two types of companies. Only by comparing the good and the great you can differentiate between what works good and what works better. Without using a control group (the silver medal companies) they could just as easily have stated that buildings (which all of the great companies have) are the determining factor for their success.

What makes the 18 identified companies so great? It is vision, one which has guided most of these companies for up to a hundred years. A vision that is conceptualized in Big, Hairy, Audacious, Goals (BEE-hags). It is a goal that is not achievable in the near future, or even in the next few years. It is a goal that does not have a 100% success rate, but that inspires the whole company none the less. Two examples are from Ford: Democratize the automobile, and Philip Morris: Become the front-runner in the tobacco industry.

Next to the BEE-hags, the book also elaborates on other things great companies do. There is an emphasis on building the foundations, so that your subsequent work can be flexible around a steady core. Make the company itself the ultimate product, not the product. Products all end up obsolete and by having a focus on the company, it will remain standing. Build the company around a core ideology, a purpose beyond making money (eg. 3M’s commitment to innovation). And imprint this culture with all your employees (building a cult-like culture).

There are many more examples in the book, and practices that are as knowledgeable as convenient. But what is most important is that you look beyond the dilemma of the or and embrace the power of the and. Having a steady core and being the most innovative company are not two sides of the same coin, both statements can be true for the same company. This leads me to reflect on the 3rd Alternative by Stephen R. Covey, and note that both books share the same positive philosophy.

On a more critical note, people have taken a close look at the companies that are reviewed in the book. And the conclusions are far from great, some are no longer industry leaders and do not seem to follow a certain ideology or BEE-hag at this time. There have also been doubts about the scientific methods used by the authors and how the companies got selected. But what stands above questioning is the inspirational power that comes forth from the book. Having a vision, a BEE-hag to aspire too and thinking with and can do wonders to starting, established and mega corporations. It gets a 5 out of 6 rating.

The Book:

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies – Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras – ISBN-10: 0060516402 | ISBN-13: 978-0060516406

The Upside of Irrationality

The Upside of Irrationality: The unexpected benefits of defying logic at work and at home by Dan Ariely is an excitingly, new and positive view on the irrational behaviour of men. Through several decades of studying the behaviour of people, Dan Ariely has accumulated a vast body of knowledge on the irrational behaviour we showcase every day. He takes us on a journey of the strange findings he and other colleagues have found, and elaborates on how we can think of the positive effects these irrationalities can have.

Also see Predictably Irrational.

The book is subdivided into two distinct parts, the first about irrationality at work, the second about irrationality at home. It features grasping aspects of subjects like the topic of big bonuses, why we enjoy work, and why we overvalue what we make ourselves. In the home domain adaption is explained (both to positive and negative events), online dating debunked, and emotions put under the loop. Ariely does a fine job of combining both experiment and real-life examples for all domains that make it easier to grasp the sometimes counter-intuitive concepts and findings.

To give an example is the effect of bonuses on the productivity of workers. In an experiment where they gave people large bonuses (1 day, 1 week, 1 month approximately) most people expected for performance to go up. When you think about it, you would be more motivated to work for more money, and definitively be attracted to a job where bigger bonuses are more common. This conclusion for motivation does hold true, performance, however, did not increase. Not even slightly, it decreased when the bonuses grew bigger. One of the explanations for this effect is the increased pressure from which people start to perform sub-optimal (imagine an inverse U-shape in which the stress level is so high the performance decreases when reaching over the middle level).

Dan Ariely has a right position to be speaking about these irrational phenomena, as a behavioural economist, his field covers everything from business to psychology. As a professor at Duke University, he is an utmost productive researcher and has also written an earlier book about irrationality named Predictably Irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions (2008).

When reflecting on reading the novel one comment can be made. The preface makes it look like there is a vast amount of good news, and that the book will summarize all the positive findings about irrationality. It, however, does not shy away from the negative side of irrationality and shows how bad decisions can be made because of irrational behaviour. This does not hinder the quality of the book in any way but may confront us people more with our faults than we might have wanted to have been.

The Book:

The Upside of Irrationality: The unexpected benefits of defying logic at work and at home – Dan Ariely– ISBN-10: 0061995045 | ISBN-13: 978-0061995040

More on The Upside of Irrationality:

http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061995033 – Index of The Upside of Irrationality

http://danariely.com/ – Blog by Dan Ariely

http://www.freakonomics.com/2010/09/21/the-upside-of-irrationality/ – Ian Ayres on The Upside of Irrationality (review)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPQj547KXPE – Videos by Dan Ariely on The Upside of Irrationality

July 25, 2018

Predictably Irrational

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely exposes how we, with all our fallibility, make decisions. We, as rational agents, like to believe that we can (and do) make calculated decisions based on reasoning. But at the same time, we know from experience that not all of the time do we act accordingly to this principle. Through both personal stories, illuminating examples, and a new and exciting field of research, Dan Ariely gives the reader an insight into our irrational behaviour.

Irrationality is not random. There are several components that make for irrational decisions. The first is relativity. In evolution, it has been very handy to compare things relative to each other. Seeing if we should take route A or B, only calculation the differences and ignoring all things equal has reduced computing in our brain to only the necessary input. But this mechanism can also easily be hijacked. Imagine for instance route A and B have two attributes they differ on (one being better on attribute 1, the other on attribute 2). When you throw in route C, which is slightly worse on attribute 1 than route A, but equally worse on attribute 2 as route A is compared to B, you will be tempted to choose option A. Route C has acted as a decoy, accentuating route A whilst in fact it was comparable to route B.

As people, we are also disproportionately attracted to things that are free. In a clever experiment, Ariely set up a cookie shop in two malls. In the first, he priced some expensive cookies at 1.10 dollar, the cheaper cookies at 10 cents. In the other case, he decreased the price to make it 1 dollar and FREE. ‘Sales’ of the FREE cookies rose disproportionately. This is the power of free and can have a significant influence on both your buying decisions and businesses. For you, it means you will be more likely to buy that expensive TV if it has a free PS4 that goes with it. For businesses they can expect people to consume much more when you offer something for free.

There are so many topics discussed in the book that an example of each would make this review irrationally large. Some of the topics are; the influence of arousal, the high price of ownership, keeping doors open, the effect of expectations, and beer and free lunches. In a mix of groundbreaking research and real-life examples, Ariely takes the reader on a tour of his lifetime of research. Anyone with an interest in psychology, behavioural economics or our irrationality in general, should read this as soon as possible.

The Book:

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions – Dan Ariely – ISBN-10: 9780061353246| ISBN-13: 978-0061353246

Choice Architecture

Every day we are faced with an insurmountable amount of choices. Will we buy brand A or brand B and will we diet or eat that candy? When making each of these choices we like to believe that we are free to choose what we want, but in how far are we that rational to make the best choice? A lot of attention nowadays is going out to choice fatigue, to a cognitive overload of the brain that then shuts down. In this article the focus will be a step more fundamental, are we even deciding our own choices?

A choice architect is someone that is responsible for organizing the context in which people make decisions. Without realizing you too are probably a choice architect. To demonstrate the power of organizing the context in which you make a decision the article will start with the subject of organ donations. From this example, the principles of defaults are explained. The rest of the text will explain principles of error reduction, mapping, and incentives.

Defaults

Defaults can be organized in two ways; opt-in or opt-out. In the opt-in, version you still have the check the box, the opt-out version allow you to check the box if you don’t want it. From a rational viewpoint, a person who would want to donate his organs will do so no matter the form. Research and real life examples however show a very significant effect of the defaults. People tend to take the most easy route, the way of least resistance. As for the organ donation forms, this resulted in an enormous difference between very alike countries The Netherlands (opt-in, 27,5%) and Belgium (opt-out, 98%). Important to note is that whilst The Netherlands spent a lot of money on promotion and campaigning, Belgium had an effective consent percentage of almost a hundred percent without spending any money.

Error Reduction

Next to shaping how we make decisions, choice architecture can also help us when making choices. A large percentage of women take birth control pills, these are taken every day for three weeks and then skipped for one week. To solve this problem and make the process automatic, the pills are sold in containers with 28 pills, of which 7 are placebo’s, just to make the process automatic. In the same spirit checklists for taking medicines can help prevent errors and save millions of dollars. And who has been using Gmail may have once or twice notices a reminder for adding the attachment, because you typed the words but did not add any document.

Mapping

By mapping all the choices you can make a better decision for yourself. But this is also where advertisement comes into play. When choosing between a vacation to Rome or Paris we are assuming people are similarly attracted to both options. But what if we expand the map with a third alternative that looks a lot like the Rome options (lets say with another hotel), people now are far more likely to choice the Rome option. This is know as the asymmetric dominance or decoy effect. Probably almost no one is going to go for the new option, but it highlights the other option that is very alike (Rome).

Incentives

Incentives too can change what we choose, and especially the salience of incentives. Sometimes you are very aware of the costs and use something wisely, like the taxi meter ticking away every few seconds. And in other times you are not so aware of the vast costs that you are making, like the bills you accumulate on a credit card each month. A system of showing the price of energy that is consumed by a household during peak hours may be a very effective way of adjusting families behavior. By changing the choice architecture an effect larger than adjusting prices can be achieved.

What it all boils down to is that we are not the rational beings economists would love to think of us. We are not so free in our (ir)rational choices (Predictably Irrational) and are influenced by many factors that come from the environment. These influences can help us for the better and let us solve the donor problem, safe for retirement and take our medicine. But at the same time also market us things we may not have needed, decoy us into buying a specific product and hide costs from us. We must be careful and aware of the choice architecture that is happening in our daily life, and use the principles for the good, not bad.

References & Further Reading:

1. Johnson, E., & Goldstein, D. (2003). Do defaults save lives?. Science, 302, 1338-1339.

2. Thaler, R., Sunstein, C., & Balz, J. (2010). Choice architecture. Available at SSRN 1583509.

3. Davidai, S., Gilovich, T., & Ross, L. D. (2012). The meaning of default options for potential organ donors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,109(38), 15201-15205.

4. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/02/27/i-can-t-think.html

5. http://www.thedailymuse.com/health/yes-no-maybe-so-defeating-decision-fatigue/

6. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html?pagewanted=all

7. http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions.html

8. Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions – Dan Ariely – ISBN-10: 0061353248 | ISBN-13: 978-0061353246

9. The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home – Dan Ariely – ISBN-10: 0061995037

10. The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone—Especially Ourselves – Dan Ariely – ISBN-10: 0062183591 | ISBN-13: 978-0062183590

July 25, 2018

The Sleep We Need

We spend about a third of our life sleeping. It helps us restore our physical and mental capacity. We are ready for the next day after a full night of sleep but are dead tired when we only sleep a few hours. This article explores the why? how much? and other questions about sleep. Not only normal sleep cycles but also polyphasic sleep is explored.

What is Sleep

Sleep is the absence of consciousness, relative suspended sensory activity and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. The body is at most time inactive and conserves about 10-15% energy during sleep. This number may strike people as low, and the reasons for sleep are still relatively unexplained. From the ecological perspective, it can be said that sleep could have had three ways or reasons of evolving; conserving energy, foraging (which predators do less, and sleep more), and predator avoidance (thus sleeping less). Some animals have found a way to even sleep with one side of the brain and not the other (unilateral sleep).

During sleep itself, the brain goes through four distinct phases. The first is Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) stage 1 in which a person is falling asleep and the eyes open and close sometimes. In NREM stage 2 alpha waves from phase 1 are interrupted by sleep spindles and K-complexes (which help with tranquillity). Stage 3 NREM sleep is the slow-wave sleep, you are in a deep state of sleep and delta waves are the most active. During sleep, you mostly go through these phases first and from NREM 3 you go back to NREM 1 and finally REM sleep. Here most muscles are paralyzed, but at the same time, your brain activity looks alike to that of when you are awake. REM sleep deficiency is linked to a lack of learning complex tasks.

How Much Do We Need

How many hours a night do we need to fulfil the required amount of (REM) sleep each night? We experience about 90-120 minutes of REM sleep each night, with more REM sleep at the end of the night. A general consensus states that we need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night. This, however, differs between people, their physical activities and living habits. When you exercise more, the body takes a part of the sleep time to restore the muscles and rebuild them stronger than before. Most people take the required amounts of sleep in one go, but there are other ways too.

The most well-known of other sleep schedules is the siesta. People who take a nap every afternoon have a 37% reduction in coronary mortality. It also reduces the amount of sleep needed at night and reduces the total amount of sleep by 0,5-1 hour every day. Some more extreme forms of polyphasic sleep schedules are also around. One is called the Everyman and consists of 4,5 hours of sleep and two 20 minute power naps. Although a significant amount of waking time is gained, questions can be asked about gained productivity and loss of essential REM sleep. Sufficient research has yet to be done. This is also true for the Uberman schedule in which a person sleeps only 20 minutes every 4 hours.

I have some personal experience with Everyman (somewhere in 2010-ish). It enables for a lot of work (or gaming) to be done during the late night. The feeling of sleeping less also has an empowering aspect to it. The huge downfall, however, is social life, trying to nap between 4 and 6 PM every day is quite the task. But when challenged with a big workload, a daily opportunity for naps and the discipline of sleeping and waking on time, it is very possible to follow the Everyman schedule.

I can conclude that everyone needs an appropriate amount of sleep time. In still somewhat unexplained ways the body and the mind restore during the nighttime and allow you to function yet another day. Adopting another schema for sleeping can have some advantages of longer waking time. But be sure to spend them during something that requires attention, or you might fall asleep!

References & Further Reading:

1. http://www.scribd.com/doc/13916183/AQA-ALevel-Psychology-PYA4-Function-of-Sleep

2. http://www.journalsleep.org/CurrentIssue.aspx

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep#Uberman.27s_sleep_schedule

4. http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/15/103358/720

5. http://ohgodthechicken.com/2008/05/20/how-to-fall-asleep-quickly/

6. http://ohgodthechicken.com/2008/05/15/32/

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_eye_movement_sleep

8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWULB9Aoopc

10. http://zenhabits.net/get-sleep/

July 25, 2018

Stress and Work Impairment

Stress is a daily struggle for a lot of people, it originates from work, keeping your finances in order, maintaining relationships and many more places. This article will focus on the first, while at the same time keeping in mind a spillover effect from and to other areas of life. The effect of stress on work efficiency is explored and in that light is stress really as bad as it sounds? Lets first start with defining stress.

Stress

Stress is generally seen as a deviation from the balance, both in mind and body. The balance, or so-called homeostasis, is disturbed by prolonged exposure to stressors (e.g. the boss at work), and which have a prolonged effect even after work is done. The body has an adaptive system that is very good at handling stressors that happen only once, longer exposure, however, will pose an allostatic load. If stress will lead to disease is dependant on many factors. One of these is the personal differences between people. Every person sees and interprets the same situation in a slightly different way, also the body of every person is different and thus reacts differently to stress.

Level of Stress

Some general conclusions about stress and work impairment can be made. When the pressure is very low a person performs sub-optimal, he is not challenged and feels bored. On the other hand when under very high pressure, he is engulfed by tension and is less focussed on the task at hand (all of the selective attention is consumed by stress). And in the middle there lies the perfect amount of stress. It should be enough to motivate a person, yet not too much that it disrupts the homeostatis for prolonged periods.

This framework is perfectly in line with the Yerkes-Dodson Law. This law states that the performance is at its best when the level of pressure is medium. The curve of performance follows an inverted U-shape. Not only for performance, but also learning under stress does this framework hold. Some pressure is stimulating, finishing a deadline in the night before a big presentation not so much.

In the workforce, stress can even lead to a burnout. And when someone has a higher score on a burnout measure (the Maslach Burnout Inventory) the performance is also impaired. Exhaustion as a part of burnout symptoms is related to negative work performance. This is mostly visible in lower client ratings, less organizational citizenship behaviour, and worse in-role performance. Research in this area supports the happy-productive worker hypothesis, when employees are more happy, they are too more productive.

It is clear that not all stress is bad for a person, when there is just the right amount of stress a person can be at its most productive. Negative consequences of too little stress may not be to big, but too much stress has far reaching consequences for both work performance and health. One should be wary of environments that are very stressful and take time to recover from this.

References & Further Reading:

1. McEwen (2006). Stress, Adaptation, and disease. Allostasis and Allostatic Load Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 840, 33-44.

2. http://www.mindtools.com/stress/UnderstandStress/StressPerformance.htm

3. Teigen, K. H. (1994). Yerkes-Dodson: A law for all seasons. Theory & Psychology, 4(4), 525-547.

4. Taris, T.W. (2006). Is there a relationship between burnout and objective performance? A critical review of 16 studies. Work & Stress, 20, 316-334.

July 25, 2018

Workaholic or Work Engaged?

Everyone loves the co-workers that like to make long hours, that are productive and are highly involved in the job. But there are subtle differences between the two categories of workers that fit the aforementioned description. Although it is too stringent to say the one is good or bad, work engagement can be considered to be better than a workaholic. Let us first explore both types, then compare them and eventually also look at burnouts, who is more likely to get one?

Workaholism

Workaholism consists of three dimensions, these are affect, cognition, and behaviour. The affective part consists of enjoyment in working, the excitement of doing your job. And on the other hand, the guilt and anxiety that workaholics experience when not working. From the cognitive point of view, they can be considered as addicted to work (like being addicted to chocolate or drugs). And the behaviour of workaholics consists of making long hours at work, to the cost of the work-life balance.

Work Engaged

Work engagement is a relatively new term coined by Dutch researchers. It is described as a positive, fulfilling, affective-motivational state of work-related well-being that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption. As with workaholics the work engaged employee feels a strong identification with his work and enjoys working. The last characteristic is the high level of energy not only during but also derived from work.

Whilst the two types of workers may look alike on the surface, there is a vast difference in drive. The workaholic feels a compulsion to work, and has little possibility of stopping (and feels guilty when he does). The work engaged likes to work and is driven solely by this. The problem of the workaholic is that their need for work is so exaggerated that it endangers their health, family life, social functioning and overall happiness.

And a final danger is that of a burnout. Although there are some positive aspects of being a workaholic, it too does increase the chance of a burnout. Both forms of working carry the notion of working long hours, but without a sense of happiness, but one of guilt, exhaustion is far more likely. Next to a poorer performance in the long run, putting all your energy into work can physically and mentally exhaust a person. When compounded with the two other aspects of burnout, cynicism and inefficacy, a person who is a workaholic is far more likely to face a burnout than a work engaged employee.

References & Further Reading:

1. Ng, T. W., Sorensen, K. L., & Feldman, D. C. (2007). Dimensions, antecedents, and consequences of workaholism: A conceptual integration and extension. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28(1), 111-136.

2. Bakker, A. B., Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., & Taris, T. W. (2008). Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. Work & Stress, 22(3), 187-200.

3. Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397-422.

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_(psychology)

5. http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130606150602-25745675-if-you-re-learning-you-ll-never-need-to-recharge?ref=email