What is the point of work?
We were told the answer was to earn a living. To do something meaningful. To give your life purpose. To grow and develop as a person.
When I joined the workforce in the 1980s, organisations enabled their people to build a good lifestyle. They delivered on the promise.
But now?
The benefits have gradually been chipped away. The demands have grown. Stress has gone through the roof. Burn-out has been normalised. Even in the best jobs.
People have found themselves on a hamster wheel that goes around slightly faster than they can run, endlessly going nowhere. They felt uneasy but they were too busy running to think about it.
Until a massive pattern interrupt called COVID came along. People were able to stop running and think, reflect and question.
Cal Newport says that it’s part of the reason for ‘The Great Resignation’. Knowledge workers have asked the question and come up with a whole new set of answers, which are driving them to design lives that do not accommodate the jobs the currently have.
They’ve decided the point of work is to be a part of a better lifestyle. They want to work to Iive, not live to work.
They’re not getting back on the hamster wheel, no matter how bright and shiny organisations make it.