subject: Finding Meaning In Work [print this page] "I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen". ~ Frank Lloyd Wright
Several stonemasons were working at a building site, all of them using hammers and chisels to cut stones. Someone came by and asked what they were doing. The first one said that he was hitting stones with a hammer. The second one said he was making stone bricks. The third said he was building a wall. The fourth said he was constructing a cathedral. The fifth one said, "My work is praise to the greater glory of God."
Why is that last answer important? After all, they were all doing the same work with the same tools. We can answer the question from three equally important perspectives - Commitment, Context and Competencies.
1. Commitment: When a stonemason does his job as a reflection of the greater glory of God, the commitment he brings to his job much different from when he's mindlessly pounding stone. For him, work is truly worship.
2. Context: Looking at the big picture helps him make the right decisions. Knowing that this space is for nurturing the soul will ensure that he makes no compromises in terms of quality. He breathes perfection into every swing of the hammer.
3. Competencies: When you take responsibility for delivering something large and meaningful, you are more likely to acquire the skill and strength to do the job well. That stonemason glorifying God views his work as important, and that engagement helps him learn more from the master stonemason or his more adept peers.
The modern workplace tends to dehumanize work by breaking it into too many individual parts. People lose the context and meaning of their work. As employees, we seem satisfied to fulfill our own narrow duties, but we care little about the big picture - whether our work helped achieve the larger organizational goals.
It's almost like the center-forward of a soccer team considering himself successful because he scored two goals, but his team lost the game 3-2. Bit by bit, work loses meaning and becomes drudgery; for too many of us, the only bright spots are when we can lame our bosses and colleagues - certainly not ourselves - for the organization's limited success.
Most of us want to be successful. We are keen to contribute to our organizations and to the world around us. However, the design of the workplace and work process is tuned to the command and control approach of the Industrial Age. What was appropriate in that era - where products were simpler, expectations of workers were low and technology was limited - is no longer appropriate in today's world.
In the Connected Age, the complexity of work is likely to increase as the world demands products and services that are innovative, useful, efficient and eco-friendly. Design of these products will need lean, multi-disciplinary teams collaborating across the globe.
The collaboration model of the Open Source movement is a great starting point to design these new work processes - models that bring are fulfilling and meaningful to every contributor, and bring out the best in every team member.
The Connected Age is likely to nurture enthusiastic contributors committed to the complete outcome rather than competent workers who are satisfied merely delivering their piece of the work.
It remains to be seen whether large organizations, modeled on Industrial Age principles, are able to make this shift. It is easier for self-employed professionals and small firms to draw out the best in their people. Do share your own thoughts on finding true meaning in work.
