Hacker News Reader

For you.

Some people just want to sit for 8 hours, go home, and watch football.

So you let them sit for 8 hours, go home and watch football. What's next? They're happy forever and don't bother you? No, it's likely something from the list.

The list seems likely to be important, but I note that no form of material compensation is listed, and even people who don't particularly care for material wealth will probably put food-and-shelter above most or all of that list (with a possible exception for point 8, with people and companies that have a particularly strong Cause).

Study after study provides evidence that compensation is the most important motivator up to some individual range/level, at which point its leverage quickly tapers off. Food & shelter would definitely be below the cut-off but a 5% increase could be huge for some and meaningless for others. The challenge is everyone's curve is going to be different.

This list jives with the internal motivators that appear to drive really great work above the survival level: safety, opportunity and recognition.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com