People need to take pride in what they do. There is extraordinary virtue in observing someone who does a job well.
This is true regardless of the nature of the work. I get joy out of watching an expert in just about any field. A good waiter is just as impressive as a brilliant pianist.
Daughter and I disagreed on this point recently. She thought I should feel bad about cross-examining someone to the point that they were destroyed professionally and their testimony had no negative impact on my client. I told her that, like everyone else, it is my job to perform my duties at the highest level. I told her there was virtue in doing that well even if someone was damaged as a result. She was not impressed and thought I should go easy on the witness.
The Nine Rules do not eliminate kindness but they absolutely require performance at the highest level. I am not sure I won the arguement but my position was certainly clear.
The unfortunate fact is that our service culture is at a crisis because so few people take pride in the work they do. What a joy it is to find someone that delivers good service beacause they take pride in their work and understand that service is what they do.
The Nine Rules teaches that there is virtue in doing a job well and that one should take pride in what they do. Rule 2, for example, teaches us that we should do our own work and reject others' efforts to do the work for us. There is nothing more fundamental in the advice to do your own work than the fact that you should do that work well and take pride in it. Rule 6 teaches us that we should never mess up good work. This is another part of taking pride in your work. When it is right, it is finished and until then, there is more work to do.
Anything less than pride in your own performance translates into a lack of success and, if adopted broadly enough, will translate into a deteriorating society.
