The relationship between work and purpose
That was the week that was: Week 1
As described in my previous post, and in an effort to bring some structure and more perspective to my work, I am practicing the art of a weekly blog. This aims is to bring together my thoughts and experiences from the previous week using a word or phrase that I hope will bring some sense to the week that was. Below is my first attempt, so don’t say I didn’t warn you if it fails.
The weekly thought: work and purpose
When you work for a management consulting firm you do get use to saying goodbye. There is a lot of staff turnover, particularly in a growing organisation, with people seemingly using the entrances and exits all the time.
Last week, over dinner one of my good friends told me that he was leaving. Cue interrogation and a long-winded discussion over why. But to cut a long story short, he was off to work in sustainable energy, an area he is deeply passionate about.
On the way home, while I was digesting the news and my dinner, I was reminded of a quote I recently heard at a wedding. It’s from Winnie the Pooh:
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
It’s a lovely quote and like the writers of Sesame Street, A. A. Milne interwove many life lessons, like this, in his Winnie the Pooh books. Although I think Milne was really talking about people in this extract, the quotes can have multiple meanings. And when I thought about it again it made me think beyond the person themselves. What makes it difficult to say goodbye to certain people? Obviously its based on a connection that we feel to towards them, but what is that connection based on?
In this case it was the passion they show for certain things, the purpose they put into their work and the positive influence it has on society. In other words, they, and the work they do, have a purpose. And it is exactly this purpose that made me feel that I am lucky to work at a company with people that have such purpose.
But not everyone is so fortunate. Unfortunately, I rarely hear about this from friends and colleagues in other agencies. Instead they often complain about a lack of clarity or say they are searching for opportunities to do more meaningful work. Last week was no exception. I instructed the Service Design Bootcamp at General Assembly in Melbourne and as usual, I opened by asking participants to describe their reasons for attending. Whether it be exploring a new purpose in their career, finding more meaning in their work or being more purposeful in their current projects, it was purpose, and a lack of it, that united their answers.
It’s not uncommon to have a lack of purpose in work. In fact, this is one of the main ways the world of work is changing. Over the last two years I have worked on a project with a large not-for-profit organisation to develop an employment program for young people with high barriers to work. This program draws on opportunities available through the gig economy to build the experience, confidence and capability of these young people.
However, purpose is hard to find in the gig economy. The nature of short-term, task-based work is highly competitive, menial and lacks sufficient support structures. I will talk more about the gig economy in a future post, but the main point is that long-term, meaningful work environments are in decline, at the same time as employees are seeking more purpose and meaningful types of work.
So what can we do?
Well I don’t know exactly. If I did I would be in high demand. But this is something my colleagues and I have been thinking about recently. Specifically, the future world of work and how organisations can adapt to these changing forces and improve their employee experience accordingly.
The notion of employee experience is not new, and a central tenant of it is purpose. However, over the last few years, there has been an increased demand from organisations to understand it and get to the heart of how they can improve an employee’s day-to-day experience rather than offering scattered or outdated incentives for being part of a company.
So over the next few weeks my colleagues and I will explore the future of work theme and the role purpose plays within it. Because if we can help more people find the same purpose that my colleague (ex-colleague) found in his work, then we are doing our job well.
If we come up with anything insightful we will be sure to share it.
The best of what I read or listened to last week:
Book: Drinking: A love story — This is a book I have been reading sporadically for a few weeks, but I finally finished it and it was been worth the effort. It was recommended to me during the audible 2 for 1 sale. (I don’t think I should be worried). But it is a great insight into the world of addiction and tacks on well to this post as Klein talks through the difficulty of replacing drink, and the act of drinking, with another purpose. A good read.
Podcast: Still Processing — M.J. — This is a must listen for any Michael Jackson fans. Like any knotty issue, Morris and Wortham wrestle with their love and discomfort with the iconic entertainer leading to a number of thoughtful conclusions.
Article: Six Years With a Distraction-Free iPhone — Jake Knapp is a bit of cult figure in design circles and regardless of your thoughts on him, he does present good insights and has an engaging style. I like this article because, although I have no intention of deleting all the apps on my phone, he does highlight a number concerns I have been thinking about and offers some practical strategies to confront them.
Podcast: A week with the Extinction Rebellion — The Today in Focus podcast is a staple in my podcast diet and this was a particularly insightful episode.
