Why do you do it?

The costs, and rewards, of devotion.

Devotion, in wooden form. (Drawing by me, photos taken by me.)

A few years ago, a friend who worked in the corporate world listened to me weighing the effort of a freelance job I’d just done and the fee I’d received for it. “That’s not enough ROI,” she said. I blinked; not enough what? “ROI,” she said, “return on investment.”

(Side kvetch: I despise corporate jargon. ROI, actionable items, deliverables, silos, brand deck, move the needle, headwinds, white pages, one pager, and my all-time least favorite, pain points¹. These buzzwords are designed to make the speaker sound more in-the-know than the listener. I especially don’t like corporate jargon when by friends during our sushi catch-up. Can’t friends just speak normally? Anyway…)

In corporate-speak, ROI, or return on investment, means you’re making enough money or getting some reward substantial enough to do the work. This is very different from a concept that has no big business buzzword: devotion.

Some endeavors require a great deal of devotion, with no promise of return other than one that wouldn’t fly in a corporate boardroom—effort as an act of devotion. I saw an example of this recently at the Museum of Modern Art, and I wanted to share it with you.