How big is your enthusiasm?
What happens when you try to measure something that's greatest joy is in not measuring it?
“When summing up the passion, enthusiasm, excitement and dedication a worker may may display towards a project, department, course or organisation, <researcher> came up with the term Discretionary Emotional Energy. It’s the personal buy in that cannot be bought or manufactured in the workplace.”
Whatever happened to saying I’m Happy To Do Shit?
I wonder if manufacturing the term gives the warm, corporate cockles something to attach to and grow? Something for the new reporting cube or HR modelling, perhaps?
Or is this, (as I suspect it might) be less of a motivator and more a highlighter pen across the problems we have in working society?
Discretionary Emotional Energy Vs Happy To Do Shit - even sitting them side by side, my brain accepts and rejects the realities.
The measurement of the intangible in such a rigid way.
The selling of an idea that shouldn’t need to be sold.
The qualification of something unquantifiable.
A phrase that is a cynic’s dream, until their output is suddenly measured against it.
Image: how big is your enthusiasm?
Discretionary Emotional Energy
What exactly do we want from you, little concept? And why are you so elusive?
Work did without you for so long. Then, you suddenly appeared.
After that, you became the baseline, the expectation.
These fast-paced environments with their rockstar all-rounders won’t synergise themselves!
But now, we’re all quietly quitting during the great resignation after doing our bare minimum Mondays while we rage apply to our lazy girl jobs.
That doesn’t leave much time to gather up that Discretionary Emotional Energy.
Or to overthink the drawcard of getting high off accomplishment.