Very often, companies try to get these quick highs instead of fixing the more fundamental questions of fairness and being treated with respect,

The Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work

It's about fairness, ... not being unmotivated. Issues of fairness such as not being treated with respect, being talked to in a condescending way -- these are the things that really bother people at work. Instead of having motivational speakers or worrying about psychological issues of, 'How do we make everybody feel good?' I say the fundamental grounds for making people feel good is treating them well.

if work has really improved since the beginning of the century or if it is just clothed in fancy terms and done in cleaner, better-lighted places.

What do we sell in business now? What's the cry of every other dot-com commercial? Information. We sell access. We sell ideas. So what are (motivational speakers) doing? Selling another idea.

Somebody who doesn't have a lot of self-confidence, ... Somebody who feels the need to have some kind of pep talk, who's not self-motivated.