Look at the picture of the bridge with graffiti. There have been significant effort that has gone into making a mark on the bridge – not just the cost of paint, application cost and also substantial risk to mark at locations that look very dangerous. So why do people do it ?
One obvious reason is publicity – the painter or the graffiti artist wants to be known in the field of graffiti and also wants to be known as an artist. Since there is not much you can do to write your name and tell people about it, the reason is probably not fame.
People do it because they want to do it to leave a mark. How much work do people like to do so that they can leave a mark? It is substantial.
The HR folks at the organization tell us that the one way to motivate people at your company is to make sure that they work towards a mission that is higher than just making money – it makes people work towards the goal and thus makes them feel good about the job that they do and hope to leave a mark.
Is that the reason that people want to be remembered after they have passed away? They would like to leave a mark?
If this is at the core of much what we really are then it makes sense for employee motivation but also makes sense of doing work that gives us satisfaction. Working hard towards that bigger goal is then just something that we want to do if our circumstances allow – i.e. if you can afford the can of paint then you will paint. Maybe not everyone has the same extinct to be a graffiti painter but it is there – in some different manifestation.