Yes, I am still on the nature or nurture debate.
I have the pleasure of working and serving alongside a wide array of people on a regular basis. Everyone has a varied working style, organizational approach and what I call "burn level". You know, how hot do they burn, how long can they sustain focused work, how fast do they naturally move, how many things can they juggle at once, etc. Burn level.
Where did you learn your burn level? I know some seasoned adults who "burn" at an almost imperceptible flicker and some very young adolescents who burn like a bonfire for hour upon hour. Some adults cannot sustain a simple hands on job for more than 5 minutes at a time yet some 12 year olds will get in and haul loads of bark dust all afternoon (okay, uncommon but I've seen it more than once!). Where does that "get er done" attitude come from and why does it seem to hit some and miss others?
Make no mistake, I am not limiting my delving to purely hands on hard labor here. Is it a work style issue? If I make you crunch numbers you can last 30 seconds but if I ask you to landscape my yard you will work for hours? I can drive a truck cross country on a 45 hour stretch but make me sit in a meeting and I will go crazy? You'll happily suit up for hours in a sterile fab but you just can't seem to get around to cleaning the toothpaste out of the sink.
Is it as simple as preference for one activity over another or are there just some people who are wired for hard work and deep focus and some that just never learned to "buckle down", (as my Grandmother would say)? Are there some people who just naturally assume responsibility and some who will run from it no matter how old they grow and no matter the job?
Why do the folks who enthusiastically work hard and jump in with a "can do" positive attitude seem old fashioned or a throwback to a historic generation? Will my generation be known for having service people on speed dial and paying others to do our work? Are we teaching our children to work hard enough? That responsibility is responsibility whether a high profile, "important" job or a menial but necessary one? How much is enough?
Which part is genetic and which part is learned or allowed?
Where did your work ethic come from and why did you adopt it?
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