Ma Phaleshu Kadachana?

“Karmanye va adhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana

ma karmaphalahetur bhur ma te sango stva akarmani”

 Meaning:

Thy business is with action only, never with its fruits so let not fruit of action be thy motive nor be thou to inaction attached.

This is a very difficult, concise enunciation in the BhagavadGita - that we have duties but we cannot expect any fruits from the duties that we perform.

Is this really possible? Doing things without expecting some specific consequence? Accepting whatever consequence one gets is one thing, but not even desiring a particular result is altogether a different thing.

I, if not everybody, need some kind of motivation to do something, to put in effort. Who would even go for a movie, without expecting to have a good time? Even when I donate, I expect it’ll help someone in need. Without such type of basic motivation, it is very unlikely that I’ll raise my hand even to scratch my head.

It’s true that we cannot get the desired result 100% of the time, but should we stop desiring for something just because we’re not sure that we can get it? This concept is completely different from the one that causes innovations. 

Without expectations or motivations, only discoveries can take place, not inventions. Necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity comes from desire. No expectation for results, no desire, no necessity, no invention. Even profitless research work is a result of enthusiasm to learn. Without this motivation, man would have made only discoveries and that too accidentally. Wheel would have been discovered, but the cart would never have been invented.

Can a student study without the desire of grades? Even a sanyasi would not follow his path without dreaming of a better life after rebirth.

It also takes away the sense of responsibility from one’s actions. How will a person do a job sincerely and responsibly, without expecting the desired result?

After so much of ‘manthan’ what I understand is, that "it may not be our right to expect that the result of our actions should be as desired, but it is our need to desire some particular result of our actions, to bring out the best in us."

Edit: Nice *autopsy* of the shloka by Shri Gupta here.

Good that he has written some techniques about how and when to follow the "do not think about result" part.
He has presented a very interesting analogy with novel reading. I think one has to plan while keeping the result in mind and then in the execution phase just *trust* his planning and work accordingly. This would also save the need of reviewing the plan repeatedly and prematurely.