What makes meaningful work the key concept for understanding Gladwell’s point in both

The Topic ;What makes meaningful work the key concept for understanding Gladwell’s point in both “rice paddies & math tests” as well as “marita’s bargain”?

ANSWER

What Makes MEANINGFUL WORK the Key Concept for Understanding Gladwell’s Point in Both “RICE PADDIES & MATH TESTS” as well as “MARITA’S BARGAIN”

Introduction

Meaningful work is considered as an activity that involves physical and mental effort in order for one to achieve a result or purpose. Over the years, people have believed that meaningful work has to require sustained efforts and fulfillment of duties. Meaningful work has been related to happiness, self-esteem and building confidence as well as gaining rewards to indicate achievements. However, meaningful work is work that is complex, autonomous, and where there is a relationship between reward and effort for everything that an individual puts in to gain something out. Gladwell has brought about a new understanding of meaningful work which has focused on three things that make work meaningful: complexity, autonomy, and connection between reward and effort. This paper has focused on meaningful work as expressed in chapter 8 and Chapter 9 meaningful work and outliers; rice paddies & math tests” and “marita’s bargain”.

In chapter 8 Rice Paddies and Math Tests Gladwell talks about rice farming which is a cultural legacy. Rice farming in the paddies is demanding complicated and exacting work.  Gladwell argues that no one can rise before dawn a whole year and fail to make their family rich due to the good harvests. The people within the agricultural region have adopted the societal structure which has influenced the people living there. However, Gladwell has greatly illustrated some of the constructs of meaningful work by showing how people live. The difference between typical farming and rice production in the Midwest is that rice production is more tedious. Gladwell has used meaningful work as the key concept to explain rice paddies & math tests” since they all have a correlation between the amount of effort put and the reward gained. Gladwell believes that meaningful work yields incredible results and something that once can put all their effort due to the gains. Rice paddies and math tests in have centered around meaningful work which grows skills, increased independence, and achievement of goals.

East Asian farmers have less land to work on so rice production has been considered a better way to utilize their resources.  Rice farming can result to an approach of persistence and work that can be gainful like the math classes. Rice Paddies and Math Tests offer a picture of the Chinese countryside culture and describe the complexity of rice farming, the efforts and the rewards gained from working throughout the year. For instance, rice is grown in paddies which demand coordination and monitoring. The farmers that cultivate high rice produces have to be familiar with the water levels, fertilizers, and quick harvest approaches. The smarter and harder one works on the rice paddy the greater the output they gain. Gladwell tends to summarize the benefit of rice farming by stating that the work of rice paddies is autonomous, exacting, and complex therefore being meaningful.

Gladwell explains what makes the Chinese students understand addition, counting, and multiplication faster as compared to American children. The number system within china features a regularized system for translating two-digit numbers into words as well as single-syllable numbers. The rice paddy has also been used to explain the proficiency and accuracy of Chinese in mathematics.

Ideally, the number system has enabled the Chinese to be more accurate and quicker at doing math at a very tender age. Therefore, the social structure of the Chinese allows them to perform better in mathematics. Considerably, doing challenging and stimulating work has led to the cultural legacy of the Chinese who take ownership of the outcome. They have the ability to reap the reward of success due to their efforts. The social structure of the Chinese has been structured around making it easy for the students to bring meaningful work and making their world more magical. Meaningful work shows the importance of determination and hard work. Considerably, in this story, Gladwell has tried to show how people view successful people and how their success story is not always what it seems like. Meaningful work drives one to continue working on their skills without giving up. The book has talked about why Asians are good at math and why they have grown rice as their main agricultural product.

In Chapter 9 of Marita’s Bargain, Gladwell explains how the KIPP program has been used to boost the success of students. Considerably, there is much effort that has been put into the program to facilitate the success of students. There are issues with the education system since not everyone has the opportunity to succeed. KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) which was begun in New York has students staying in school for longer hours. For instance, they have extended hours during the weeks and have schools on weekends and during summer.

This practice has been emphasized due to the fact that students in poor areas need to perform the same way as rich students. Considerably, such efforts have been put to increase the chance for everyone to achieve greatness in what they find essential in their life. KIPP has contributed toward a meaningful goal that is challenging and difficult for the students to achieve more. The program has been structured to bring meaningful work to life by making resources available to achieve what is manifested within an individual.

To yield the best results, there is a need for constant attention and effort in the work. For instance, the rice paddies demand constant attention to gain the best crop yield possible. The rice farmers continuously engage in the work which is tedious and demanding which Gladwell defines as meaningful work. The rice farmers work harder as compared to any other farmer since growing rice needs constant vigilance and perfectionism. The attitude and determination of Chinese students in learning mathematics can be compared to the stress of farmers and KIPP students as they work for their rewards. For instance, the KIPP students experience long learning hours with no vacation and exception to maximize the education resources for meaningful gains. Their determination and relationship with their work translate meaningful work due to the fact that there exist achievements and rewards gained.

Conclusion

According to Gladwell, meaningful work engages the mind, imagine, yields independence, and connects between effort and reward. Gladwell has highlighted and made distinctions of meaningful work indicating how such work facilitates the possibilities of individuals’ success when they find that their works or efforts are thought-provoking, freeing, and fulfilling. Gladwell has used meaningful work to explain his points on Rice paddies, a math test, and Maritas Bargain since they are related to complexity and effort to achieve better results. Considerably, the growing of rice requires a lot of effort and time with strenuous work. However, growing rice has a strong correlation between the work you put, the amount of time, the amount one grows, and the money that one makes out of the produce. The points focus on meaningful goal which is complex and difficult but is achieved through effort and desire to achieve more. Gladwell relies on meaningful work to explain various factors that influence achievement and success. Therefore, meaningful work is present in rice paddies & math tests” as well as “marita’s bargain since there is more acknowledgment of efforts and rewards, autonomy, and complexity.