In 1989, I somehow got myself hired at a startup whose audacious mission statement was “To create a global medium as central to people’s lives as television – but even more valuable.” And then we did.

In fact, I think that led to our demise. For all the talk in Great Business Books about mission statements, I have never seen anyone address this one: What happens when you fulfill it?

If I’m lucky, I’ll get to worry about that again.

Then there’s the broader definition of “work”, which is essentially anything other than “leisure”. If you are working on a “labor of love”, answering a “call of duty”, or in some fashion “giving back”, then this is still “work”, although it has clear psychological / emotional / spiritual as well as material (maybe) benefits.

Now draw a Venn diagram of these two definitions, where the first is purely enveloped by the second. I would label the inner circle “work”, while the donut could be labeled “Work”. Somewhere in this annulus area of Work is the sweetspot, the occupational Nirvana, where we are recompensed for our efforts with adequate material as well as psychological benefits. This is clearly Work, but it is no longer work.

With this framework in mind, let’s revisit your question. “Why do you work?” now has a new meaning, and brings with it a corollary question “Why don’t you Work?”. If you want to spark some serious introspection, throw that doozie out there at your next interview.

It’s not for the compensation matrix, it’s not for the IPO-financed BMWs, and thanks to shirt.woot it’s not even for the project-milestone T-shirts anymore.

I work for one reason: I want to change the world again.

http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-06-03/news/funemployment/1

I find it interesting that whenever I head back to NYC and get together with my fellow bankers, a lot of the analysts talk about how they wish they were laid-off like their other colleagues so that they can collect their severance and unemployment. I think this economy has made a lot of people think hard about their careers and the direction they want to manage it.

I think that’s a great question to ask junior VC candidates. Junior VCs don’t bring enough experience, nor do they have a big rolodex to help portfolio companies. Where they bring value is being hungry and really get after it with sourcing deals and learning the ecospace.

Seriously though, I think you brought home a very important point Larry. The sense of being significant. And with it comes a string of various other reasons. So “being significant” might just be a good summary of why people work, of why I want to work.

Throughout my time in school, my “work” has been defined by what I do for various school organizations as well as for the academe. I did “work” because I knew I was highly capable. I knew I could contribute. I knew I could add value. And all of that point to the idea of making things better, not only for me, but also to the other people who were a part of my work. Whether it meant raising funds for planned events, or spending days and nights working on my thesis, or trying to juggle both, for me it meant having an understanding of the bigger picture and the very reasons I decided to take on those work in the first place.

If I was to speak strictly of corporate work or any other paying kind of work, then I don’t think I would be much different from the other people and their stated reasons for working.

I am in it for the money because I want to live a comfortable life and travel and while the work I might get early on might not be as high-paying as investment bankers, one day, I’d like to believe I’ll get there.

I am in it because it’s the work I want to do. It is my passion and it is the only thing I can imagine doing. I understand many people work simply to get by but I think more than that, it is important that people pursue what they love most because it makes for better work and a more satisfying life.

I am in it because I hope to be able to one day contribute to the society, whether it is precisely through the work that I do or the monetary compensation I receive and am able to freely share without compromising or sacrificing my own lifestyle.

And the many other reasons: I like being relied on, and accomplishing things, and being busy, even occasionally being stressed, and being professional, and being recognized, and pleasing people, and pleasing myself.

Going back to your point of having that sense of significance, I believe it encapsulates all I’ve stated above. Maybe it’s only a matter of whose perspective you’re taking.