WHY MEANINGFUL WORK?
To create a future with better work, we need to grow conscious and understand our current situation. What is happening in the world and our environment and how is this influencing the way we experience our lives? How do large scale trends affect our wellbeing and what is the role of work when it comes to shaping our future? When we understand where we are, why we are here and where we want to go, solutions are pretty straightforward. Why do we need meaningful work?
A WORLD UNDER STRESS
We are living in a world that seems to be struggling. Climate change, loss of biodiversity, increasing polarisation, growing inequalities and more recently, a viral pandemic, challenge our societies on a global scale. Though we are taking action to work on a better future, we might wonder if we will be able to turn the tide timely, and the level of discomfort with the dysfunctionalities of our current society seems to be growing. On a personal level we are challenged as well. Growing numbers of depressions, burnouts and bore-outs are the mental health issues of our time.
A LACK OF MEANING
Although situations vary from person to person, there seems to be a growing sense of meaninglessness in the way we have structured our society. Where some feel to be living in a ‘rat race’, others might experience a mid-life crisis or a quarter-life crisis. Mindfulness and yoga have grown to global popularity and levels of loneliness are increasing worldwide. It is quite ironic: in the era of wireless and global connectivity, people feel less connected with themselves, others and the world around us. Despite all our technological and scientific advancement, we are to an increasing extent on a search for meaning.
TO AN INCREASING EXTENT, WE HAVE LOST TOUCH WITH WHAT WE ARE DOING AND WHY WE ARE DOING IT.
THE LOST ESSENCE OF WORK
Work has always been an essential part of human life, allowing us to nurture ourselves, protect us from danger, express ourselves and improve the surroundings we live in. By our work, we have improved our lives immensely and built society into what it is today. Seen from this perspective, work is our incredible ability to contribute value, improve our world and change our lives for the better. During our more recent history however, the concept of work has steadily changed: today, many of us feel we ‘must’ work, carry out tasks and assignments we were ordered to, 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, with a limited number of holidays. Sometimes we feel like little cogs in a machine, delivering abstract or fragmented results, for users, projects or customers we have no connection with. Finally, it all results in a change of some digital numbers in our bank accounts. To an increasing extent, we have lost touch with what we are doing and why we are doing it. We don’t understand the essence of our own work anymore.
LACK OF MOTIVATION
Though all the above might seem primarily personal and dependent on everyone’s specific situation, research shows clear trends in growing levels of demotivation, disconnection and stress. According to Gallup, a shockingly low amount of 13% of people report to feel actively engaged in the work that they do. Recent research on the phenomenon of ‘bullshit jobs’ unveils that 1 out of 4 people at least suspect to have a bullshit job, a job they don’t see the point of. And yearly, 1 out of 6 professionals are experiencing burnout symptoms, while stress levels are growing throughout the whole population. In a world where we are more developed and omnipotent than ever before, we are struggling with our motivation and stress is taking an increasing toll on us.
THE OPPORTUNITY TO READJUST
It's not all bad news, on the contrary: the opportunity to rethink, redesign and readjust our individual and collective futures, is up for the taking. Never before in human history did so many people experience such high levels of safety, financial stability, nutrition and medical treatment. Now we start to understand how modern society is affecting ourselves and the world we live in, we are able to address the underlying problems and create satisfactory solutions. If we grow conscious, decide what we wánt to change and learn how to do that, we can start developing Meaningful Work, right here, right now.
MEANINGFUL WORK IS HERE TO HELP
We understand that changing your work is a challenge. Maybe you don't know what you love or find important. Perhaps you fear losing your security or feel unable to shape your job, career or organization the way you would like to. At Meaningful Work, we believe that with the right insights, the solutions can be more straightforward then you’d think. We support your journey by delivering inspiration to look at work with different eyes, help you understand how your character and intrinsic motivation can lead you in reshaping your work, and challenge you to grow and take conscious control over your work. Take a look at our workshops and teamwork redesign, and see how we can help you. By ourselves the challenge can feel daunting, together the journey is meaningful in itself. We don’t change the world. We change our world.