Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.
Studs Terkel
Wow – that’s really powerful and if I’m honest I don’t always feel this way about my work.
When pondering something for an extended period of time, it’s not uncommon for related works to cross your path, thereby reinforcing you original thoughts – and this is what occurred, as I discovered Patrick Lencioni’s book called ‘The Truth about Employee Engagement‘.
In this work, Patrick posits that people are disengaging from their work :
- When they feel anonymous
- When their work feels non-valuable
- When their progress is not measurable.
This resonates with Terkel’s quote, as it’s a search for being meaningful on a daily basis that employees like you and me are hungering for.
Some food for thought …