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by moosey
1643 days ago
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I actually believe that a small percentage of people want to climb the hierarchy. Based on books I've read, finding meaning in their work, either locally (how it helps the company) or globally (how does my work serve human welfare), is far more important for most people. It's sad that our society is organized so that people who find meaningful work are stiffed by our society (teacher salaries, for example). Seeking power is probably a miswant anyways. I think what many people desire is the social stability that it presents, something that is probably more easily achieved via volunteer work. I think the desire for power is manufactured. |
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I don’t. I think it has very deep evolutionary roots: more status / power has historically translated into better access to resources, especially in times of scarcity.
But I agree it’s a miswant. In modern society nobody has much power over anybody (compared to how it was in ancient/evolutionary time). I think of it as a primitive drive that can lead some of us astray, like the sex drive can make some preoccupied with pornography.
I also think good managers should have a healthy distance to their desire for power. If they don’t they can waste a lot of company money on scratching that itch endlessly.