We work because that is what we are told to do we are taught to learn in order to work we pay ridiculous amounts of money to universities in order to have them stamp us with a seal of approval . The reasons we work reading time 4 minutes why do you go to work chances are its got something to do with money but as most of us know its more complicated than that there is a spectrum of reasons why people do their jobs write neel doshi and lindsay mcgregor in primed to perform . Why its a question all of us should ask ourselves why do we do what we do in particular why do we do the work that for many of us occupies most of our waking hours for our entire adult lives. This why we work summary explains the 3 perceptions of work which 3 factors turn a job into a calling why pay raises are crappy incentives