Struck by the cynicism
I'm struck by the cynicism in the comments on this blog that says I'll be enthusiastic if you pay me. Enthusiasm is more about culture than money.
I think the biggest deterent to enthusiasm in big companies is that managers often adopt a fire-fighting mentality where they expect heroic efforts to get the job done, and as soon as the current fire is out, they throw the staff on the next one, with no time taken to reflect on what went well or lessons learned. Performance feedback becomes feedback on screw-ups but not on positive accomplishments. This drains the enthusiasm from teams and creates the conditions for the natural face lift people get when start smiling after they resign.
