The Economics Of Seva

[serious gupt]

taken from sikhyouthslough emails:

The Economics of Seva!

Just reading a Journal for my Economic Theory of Incentives exam tomorrow (well today!). its about how to incentivize workers to put in more effort, the most common technique used by firms is the use of money, as it is a money motivated world, people would and do, anything for this poisonous snake.

My habit is, (don’t know if good or bad) is that whatever I read or do, I tend to relate it to Sikhi and current situations, and I apologise if this offends anyone!

I thought came to my mind that, all the seva which we do is (or should be at least) “selfless” i.e. there is no return, of monetary value. We do it voluntarily, and out of choice. Effort we put into Seva is a reflection to our dedication, commitment and love for the Panth and Guru Sahib. This effort can be very little or with our mind, body and soul (i.e. all out)

As there is no Financial Reward involved in doing Seva, this maybe the reason why there is a lack of motivation amongst Sikhs to go out there and actually to Seva! If we think about it, (don’t need to email back or anything), but how far we go in order to make money, the great lengths and effort we would put in, to earn cash and live in (or dream about at least) nice houses with flashy cars and automatic doors!

Now imagine if we had put even 10% of that money making effort/time into Seva (doesn’t have to be anything particular, could be washing bhandey at Gurdwara Sahib or polishing the shoes of the beloved Sangat, or handing out Sikhi Leaflets), how different things would be…

This is not the case, I do this I did that, or I put in 37.667% effort in etc, but more of self reflection, and have a look deep without our self and see, what am I truly doing? Why am I doing it? Am I doing it half heartily? Could I do more?

Think about what motivates you, and what should motivate you…

What makes you go the extra step, in which sticky situations would you take that extra step, go that bit further…?

Don’t sit their thinking i'm ok, I would help someone if they needed help, actually think have you helped in the past, what’s the probability you would in the future. Would you discriminate on who you’re helping?

Most of the time, what you do to help someone, the extra step you may take, the person may never find out, they may even cuss you for it (it happens a lot!), but so long as you know the truth, you took that extra step you took and helped, then you know what motivates you… is it money or something deeper; a bond, a loving relationship with Guru Sahib.

Some Economist argue that money is not the only thing which motivates a Human, things like “Reciprocity” which is like the feeling or response you get from putting in extra effort voluntarily without any monetary benefit, or staying within social norms, which is ironic in the sense if it was the “norm” in the Sikh Community to see large numbers of committed sevadaars, then it would be socially accepted to be committed to our task be it in terms of seva or any other responsibility one may have taken on. This leads to a further discussion about a very important topic for Sikhs; which is sticking to the words we say, i.e. if someone says I will do this, then actually go and do it! (Another topic, another day!)

The more I read this journal, the more amazed I am how this is appropriate to Seva, the writers of the journal also argue that Social Approval has a vital role in motivating employees, they site examples such as publically announcing bonuses of staff, in order to motivate other staff to also work harder, in order to be socially approved/respected. The fact is, in true Seva there is very little appreciation, and just hard work a lot of the time. This may be another striking reason for lack of seva within the Sikh Community.

Goodnight!

Last point – the benefits of doing seva is countless, be it physically, mentally and spiritually. There is no restrictions on seva, you can never limit or do enough seva, let us always strive to do more with Satguroo Jee's Kirpa. With only seva can Simran be embedded into our breaths, and come to a stage where we never forget the lord, not even for a breath…. Kirpa karo…

Point to Note: This midnight write up is not to knock down anyone down, neither is it written to encourage people to do Economics at university.

Another Point to Note: I really need finish reading this journal!!! It’s called: Psycological Foundations of Incentives”. Fehr, Ernst and Flak Amrin (2002), give it a read if you found this interesting! I’m sorry for anything I may of said to offend anyone, or if this doesn’t make sense! lol,

Doesn’t even feel like I got an exam tomorrow!! So unprepared! Vaahiguroo!