We seem to be pushed by two forces:

• Satisfiers: We want to satisfy or desires to accomplish something we think is worth doing (see remarks about fun).
• Dissatisfiers: We want to avoid uncomfortable surroundings.  We want to work without feeling cold, hungry or stressed by noise, odours, nasty people, and worries about not having enough money.

For Example:
Imagine a father who loves to play catch with a baseball.  He has a son in a wheelchair but the son wants to play too.  The son is learning but enjoys playing catch with his father.

Now picture them in the back yard.  The boy is on high ground but the father has to stand a the low end of the year.  It has a deep bowl shape which floods when it rains.

The father is excited because his son is catching on and he enjoys throwing the ball hard and fast.  The son's accuracy is not great but the father loves to see his son's pleasure with the fast balls.  No problem for him to move around and catch his son's toss.  The son is getting more accurate every day.

One day they see the yard is flooding but Dad decides to put on his shorts and take off his shoes so he can run around in the wet, playing catch with the son.  He leaps and catches each of his son's throws.  But the water is getting deeper!  No problem!  Son is throwing well and father is really loving this sport.  As the water gets deeper it is harder for the father to move around but the son's accuracy allows the game to continue.

So, even if the water were up to the father's neck, as long as the game could continue, Dad would be satisfied!  Yet, the context could get more and more dissatisfying.

• This above example shows that we get all our satisfaction with TASK
or "the good job, well done."
• We get more and more dissatisfied with CONTEXT or working conditions, pay and other "benefits."


• No amount of collective bargaining around these context matters will increase our satisfaction!
• It will only decrease dissatisfaction toward zero.