i think its a lot more to do with how you're told to do something. Additionally - this effect strongly varies from person to person - you might be better off ti

i think its a lot more to do with how you're told to do something. Additionally - this effect strongly varies from person to person - you might be better off titling your post "the pysch....impacts MY productivity". Working in the corporate world and on startups I've seen 3 types of people -all equally productive (mind you im not talking about how happy they were or how much fun they had - but since your point is productivity lets stick with that). Type 1 - entrpreneurs/intrapreneurs - these were the kinds who figured out their way within organizations to make their own niche - do whatever they truly felt like doing - and people typically let them do their own thing - because they delivered results. Of course they had to play the occasional bit of politics - but that is a part of any job or field, and you're never working in a vaccuum where this wont affect you. Type 2 - the 50/50s - these are people who can overtime become Type 1s - they like beign given some goal or target and a genera framework / project to work on - and then take it from there - checking in every now and then but mostly figuring their way out - and being allowed to figure their way out. Type 3 - the TaskRabbits - these are the folks that make up i'd say 60-80% of a company (depending on the industry and company culture it can vary.. a creative agency might have a lower percentage as opposed to say ..a bank). They work with strictly defined rules, have goals and targets defined for them. They usually (atleast the non mediocre ones) try had to get their goals met within that time frame - and wouldn´t be able to perform as well without having all that structure set up for them.