When being Responsible is good, what is the X that is the root of its Goodness?
Beginning pair of non-controversial stories:
Story 1. John is dedicated to his job and wants to see his company expand. He shows up to work every day and puts forth maximum effort in order to get things accomplished. John enjoys his job and likes to see progress.
Story 2. Sue also shows up to work everyday, but barely finishes her days work. She dreams about finding a new job and could care less what happens to the company she works for now.
Reflection on Stories: In both of these stories, John and Sue show responsibility. They both show up for work everyday although, Sue's responsibility is not admirable. She is only showing minimal responsibility by showing up for work. Yet she does not put forth any effort on the job. John is clearly the more admirable of the two. One possible root to the goodness of responsibility is dedication. Without dedication there does not seem to be good responsibility. John shows dedication by believing in his company and always putting forth his best effort.
Theory of X #1: Part of the X that makes responsibility good is dedication.
Counterexample to theory #1: Jason is a painter and got a job for the summer to paint houses. He has always enjoyed painting and has been painting for years. This summer he spends many nights partying and shows up to work with a hangover about two times a week. It takes him an entire summer to paint one house.
Reflection on this counterexample: This example shows someone who shows up to work everyday, but does not show good responsibility. A quality of good responsibility is one who makes sacrifices. A good responsible person may wait until the weekend to party, in order to have a clear mind at work. Without a clear mind, than one will lack in productivity. Jason's love for painting and ability to show up to work everyday still lacked responsibility because of his failure to produce. This story illustrates a refinement from the first set of examples. Jason did not make the necessary sacrifices that he needed to do in order to have good responsibility.
Theory-of-X #2, a revision of theory #1: Good responsibility includes dedication and an ability to make necessary sacrifices in order to produce something.
Counterexample to theory #2: When Tim makes a commitment, he never backs down. Tim is an architect and his boss can always rely on him to be on time and have dead lines finished on the assigned date. Although, Tim stays up hours on end and sometimes does not get any sleep in order to make his bosses deadlines. Tim does not even enjoy being an architect, but he needs the job in order to pay the bills and keep a roof over the heads of his children.
Reflection on this counterexample: Tim is showing signs of responsibility. He sacrifices sleep in order to have his work finished. He is always producing something and consistently shows his dedication. This is not a case of good responsibility, because Tim does not enjoy the work he is doing. If you did not like what you did for a living than your actions are not admirable. People become tired, angry and frustrated when they are not enjoying their work. His actions now may seem admirable to his boss but in the long run he is doing more harm than good.
Theory of X #3, a revision of theory #2: The root of good responsibility is love for one's job, which in turn fuels dedication and the necessary sacrifices that need to be made.
Discussion: The words used to describe good responsibility can have different meanings when used in different context. The word dedication in terms of responsibility implies that a person is not going to give up. Even when your job does not seem to be doing well, a dedicated person will stick it through. People with good responsibility do not give up on a project and leave others stranded. If they make a promise than they are committed to it. The phrase loving what you do', is a strong force behind good responsibility. You can have responsibility without loving what you do, but it is not admirable. Being responsible can be extremely frustrating if there is no reward for that person. By loving what you do there is an internal award for producing and is the drive behind the dedication. You can make all the necessary sacrifices that you need to do, when there is an internal reward.
Making necessary sacrifices in relation to good responsibility is making the right choices at the right time. For example, Jason did not make the right choice by getting drunk on the nights he had to work. If he had chose to wait until the weekend than he may have been able to paint more than one house all summer. Jason would have had good responsibility if he had made that choice.
In our culture it is important to have good responsibility. Without it you may not get a good recommendation for a job that you need or get a promotion that you would like. If you are always late for work and showing up hung over, than you will never find a good job or keep one. It is important to have good responsibility for mental health reasons. When you enjoy your job and can produce something while there, you have a sense of internal satisfaction. This way it does not seem like a chore or a hassle to be responsible.