In a nutshell, ’round these parts, this is our mission:
The Destruction, Reimagination, and Reinvention of The Job.
Some call this is the Age of the Internet, the Age of China, the Age of Innovation. But above all, we live in the Age of Dilbert. Or, more accurately, we suffer through it.
So why can’t we have work that nourishes the mind, body, and soul? Why can’t we have work that’s meaningful and fulfilling, challenging and compelling, riveting and involving? Work that’s not just, well, work, a source of displeasure that pays the bills, but a calling, a mission, a purpose, and a passion, that pays life forward?
Here’s my hunch. Whoever does reinvent the job might have finally built a company that’s so relentlessly innovative, so fully engaged, so unshakably persevering that it reduces pretty much everyone else to a distant second place.
Rant courtesy of one of my favorite thinkers, Umair Haque.
This so accurately sums up the movement I consider myself a part of.
Only I don’t think it’s going to be one entity, like he suggests, that “gets this right.” I think it’s going to be a whole lot of us, working in concert, spreading the fire, pushing the tidal wave of progress.
Oh yes… work is about to get a whole lot more fun.
If you’re a revolutionary who wants to help create the new world of work, please stay connected by subscribing here. More info coming soon!
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Image is from the website of Parramatta in Western Sydney, Australia. This visual was so cool and representative of a “new world of work” vision I had to co-opt it. It’s even cooler animated — visit their site here.
October 8, 2010 -
hey josh –
so here’s my thought on this: that world is already here (and has been for a long time) but people would rather prostitute themselves for a high pay check. there have always been people who follow what they love to do, who are not just out for a paycheck but actually BELIEVE in what they do. however, the fact of the matter is that a lot of people would rather make MORE money doing what they hate then make less doing what they love (though in truth when someone begins to do what they love and do it well, they sometimes end up making even more than the guy who hates his job.) the bottom line is this: if you look at money as the single definer of “wealth” you will always pick the job with the largest paycheck, even if doing it crushes your soul. but if you see “wealth” in terms of not just dollar signs, but terms of happiness, fulfillment, purpose in your life and in your life’s profession, then you will be ready to do what it is you love even if you make less money. the problem is that most of the world doesn’t want to redefine “wealth” or is so deep in the lie that money = fulfillment that they will waste their miserable lives away slaving at a job they hate to buy things they don’t really want to impress people they don’t even like. granted, the corporate world takes full advantage of this lie and in so doing creates millions of little dilberts. but the root problem is not the corporations, it is us who believe and support the lie they use. the solution is simple: if we redefine wealth and stop believing the lie, they will have no choice but to change how they do things.
October 8, 2010 -
Hey Ben — I LOVE what you are saying, because this is absolutely where it all starts: with the INDIVIDUAL. Until we, individually, begin to believe that we have a choice in what we do with our lives, we’ll remain in a “victim” mindset. This mentality, of course, doesn’t create any positive change, for ANYONE.
What I’m looking for are the people who want to take this to the next level. I want to help round up the revolutionaries — the early adopters, the catalysts, the firestarters, the influencers — who have already found a way to liberate themselves from the “old system” and now want to help take the freedom they’ve found to the rest of the work world.
For this to work, change needs to come from both sides — it must be each individual being enlightened to the things you are talking about, but it must also happen at the corporate / leadership / organizational / system / culture level. There is much to be done from both angles.
Will this be an easy project? Hell no, but the majority of human beings spend the majority of their lives in a work environment being miserable — if there was ever a worthy cause, for me this is it!
March 18, 2013 -
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