Digital Thoughts: Working Hard Not Just for the Money

Why do we work so hard in this industry? Surely, other industries are composed of individuals who work long hours and take little personal time. However, our industry is one where the wide spectrum of individuals involved, for the most part, work more than the standard 40 hour week.

But again, why do we work so hard? Very few of us will see a gold watch and retirement party at the Elk’s Lodge. Even fewer of us will probably stay in this industry for a 10, 20 or 30 year career. What are we working so hard to accomplish? In the primes of our lives, why are we giving so much of ourselves? Money? Fame? Reputation?  Fast cars and good parties?

Aristotle has some input for us in the Nicomachean Ethics:

“Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim. But a certain difference is found among ends; some are activities, others are products apart from the activities that produce them…

If, then, there is some end of the things we do, which we desire for its own sake (everything else being desired for the sake of this), and if we do not choose everything for the sake of something else (for at that rate the process would go on to infinity, so that our desire would be empty and vain), clearly this must be the good and the chief good. Will not the knowledge of it, then, have a great influence on life?”

None of us would argue that we don’t work for the money. Essentially, that is what work is all about in a market economy. However, we chose to enter this industry, and this industry demands an entrepreneurial character willing to take leaps and risks. The entry-barrier to get started in the industry is seemingly small. There is no official school accreditation or major required. Experience is good, but definitely not necessary for success.

What Aristotle brings to the table is an understanding that ultimately, we all work for a reason beyond the sake of working for money. There is a desire for something more. If we explore this desire and have knowledge of it, how does that influence the life of each of us working in the industry? I would argue that much like immigrants new to America in the 19th and 20th century waves of immigration (and the 21st with immigration from Latin America), the first generation of new arrivals work extremely hard for the benefit of posterity and later generations. The same can be said of us as the first generation of online advertising industry members.

So how does your ultimate goal affect how much you work? Is it money? Fame? Temptation of buying that 60 foot fishing boat? Getting your child a great life?

We asked a random sampling of 30 industry individuals from various companies and sectors four questions about their work habits. The details are below, and quite telling about the workaholic nature of our industry: