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journey of meaning at work, The

Group Facilitation, Spring 2003 by Epps, John

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Not all mission statements convey the "noble purpose" of the organization. Some are a waste of paper. Some appeal only to the competitive instincts (such as "Beat Caterpillar!" for Komatsu or "Be #1 or #2 in every market we enter" for Proctor & Gamble). Others appeal to the challenge of innovation ("Push the envelope of aviation technology" for Boeing or HP's "Solving problems through innovative use of technology.") Only occasionally do you run across one that actually touches the profound purpose of the organization. Disney is one example. Another is Merck Pharmaceuticals ("Victory over disease to help humankind's. When a company has determined its genuine and "noble" purpose, then its people find meaning in pursuing it energetically. 17

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The Future - Phase Two

However committed you are to a noble purpose, following through on the ground soon takes away all romanticism you may have held. "What looks so noble when seen from the heights is so muddy on the ground," remarked the Indian philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. It usually doesn't take long for Disney's sweepers or Merck's secretaries or Boeing's engineers to realize that the purpose is a grand abstraction, that they are spending their lives picking up rubbish that careless visitors dropped, or filing useless notes for an unappreciative boss, or plotting specifications for a hair-brained scheme. The details get you every time.

It's not that the purpose is any less powerful; rather you sense that the work you are actually doing contributes so little to the purpose that it is useless. Surely you could do better in some other situation. Despite this feeling, you also recognize that any other pursuit would fall prey to the same morass: the human condition is inescapably tedious. All the fuss about purpose seems mere hype designed to delude the slogging workers into me more round of effort.

At this point - which may last for some time - you face the choice of cynicism or persistence. The one expresses resentment, the other, resignation in face of reality.

The Future - Phase Three

Sometimes, during the persistence, you get a glimpse of results. It is as if, through a combination of unpredictable events, something that you deeply intended actually got done. (Your patient got well, or your client succeeded, or your book got good reviews, or your sales were positive, or ... or... you fill it in.) You are clear that it was not just because of your efforts - that your efforts contributed a minuscule amount to the accomplishment But they did accomplish something.

When that occurs, the gratitude that accompanies the perception turns your labor into meaningful destiny, as if you were meant to be doing what you are doing. And you are willing to keep doing it for the long term.

Purpose is high on Maslow's hierarchy of motivational factors. I have referred to it as the major factor in long-term motivation having a sense of purpose18. But purpose itself shows up in all three phases outlined above. Meaning appears in each phase related to purpose and the future. But it is a complex phenomenon.

journey of meaning at work, The

Group Facilitation, Spring 2003 by Epps, John

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