Intent and purpose count - 1

Here is the wonderful story of the secret project to build better and better surveillance satellites and the secrecy associated with it.

To me there is a management lesson in this news story.

The management lesson is that people work harder and better when the intent and purpose of their work is elevated. The people in this secret project were committed, highly imaginative, dedicated and cooperative in an extreme, because their work was clearly connected to an intent and purpose they supported.  Protecting the United States from two major communist countries.

I think this is true in almost all situations. It is important for the intent and purpose of work to be effectively communicated and to have an elevated reason inherent in it.

Elevated reasons are found in new products, service to humans, intense appreciation of the work, public benefit, good Samaritan motives, sheer excitement and many others. People work hard for elevated reasons and those reasons must be communicated frequently and effectively.