Harnessing the volunteer

My dad is a smart guy (although he doesn’t blog enough!). His has been retired for a few years now, having paid his dues in middle management in the insurance business with a short stint in the provincial public service. As a retiree he has been more than active in his community in Ontario, building bridges on the Bruce Trail, chairing his local library board and generally being an active citizen in his village.

He has picked up a fair amount of wisdom over the years, and among his favourite observations is that every human endeavour, whether for profit or not, is essentially a volunteer effort. Nothing happens in organizations and communities without people stepping up and agreeing to do the job. No matter how much you are paid to do a job, the actual DOING of it hinges on the same thing that drives people to volunteer.

Today I note a post at Nipun’s blog (my new favourite read) that my dad will love:

There is an article attached top that post about discretionary effort that rings true too.