journey of meaning at work, The

Epps, John

Abstract

The quest for meaning at work is a topic that occupies the attention of a growing number of writers. It is a familiar quest recognized by most people who are employed, whatever their profession. As facilitators we strive to find meaning in our own profession, and like everyone else at work, we need ways to do so. We also see the question arise among our clients. Hardly ever are we retained to address this question of meaning, but it is central in almost every organization we serve. Being clear about authentic approaches to the journey of finding meaning at work may provide us insights for addressing it effectively. By "meaning at work" we mean the worthwhileness of an undertaking, a sense of importance in a larger framework. "Meaning at work" is the contribution of a particular undertaking to a larger context that the meaning-seeker values. Work that contributes to nothing beyond itself is often considered meaningless. "Meaning at work," then, is the relationship between a particular undertaking and a larger framework in which it exists and to which it contributes. This article provides a "road map" of the journey of meaning as it is experienced at work. It is important, because we do not serve our clients by offering unachievable poppycock. To find meaning at work requires neither a quick fix nor a simple solution. It is profound, dealing with the depth of your self and your work, and it is complex, including a variety of pathways and phases. Having a map provides a realistic view of the shape of the journey. The search for meaning in work can take one of three possible pathways: the way of Significance, the way of Professionalism, and/or the way of Purpose. There are three discernable phases to finding meaning at work. In Phase One, you are subjectively fixated on the broader context of your work. In Phase Two, your attention reverts to the particular situation in which you are immersed. In Phase Three, you experience attraction to the relationship between particular and universal. Another way to put it is that in Phase One, you have a naive attachment to a grand cause; in Phase Two, the cause shows up as finite, fallible, or fraudulent, wholly unable to allay the awareness of spending your life in trivial particulars. In Phase Three, you "see through" to the ultimate unworthiness of all that is and therefore its objective value as a connected interrelated whole. The article provides approaches that facilitators and coaches can use to assist clients to deal with their position on their own journey.

Keywords

meaning, significance, professionalism, purpose, coaching

Introduction

Why would this journal for and by facilitators contain an article about the "journey of meaning at work"? As facilitators, we strive to find meaning in our own profession, and like everyone else at work, we need ways to do so. We also see the question arise among our clients. Hardly ever are we retained to address this issue, but it is central in almost every organization we serve. Being clear about authentic approaches to the journey of finding meaning at work may provide us insights for addressing it indirectly. This paper addresses both needs.

Numerous attempts are made to invigorate the workforce through increasing pay or providing various perks. Unless the issue of meaning is addressed, however, there will be little lasting improvement. When it is, the results can be outstanding.

I intend to present a "road map" of the journey of meaning as it is experienced at work. This map is for all of us. Then I will suggest some ways in which we as facilitators can help our clients sustain that journey and achieve the fulfillment rightly expected from a life of work.

I believe this is important because much of what has been presented on the topic is superficial at best or downright illusory. We do not serve our clients by promising unachievable poppycock. To find meaning in work requires neither a quick fix nor a simple solution. It is profound, dealing with the depth of your self and your work, and it is complex, including a variety of pathways and phases.

For the sake of clarity, I will offer a heuristic framework (a road map) for the journey of meaning, with three pathways, each of which goes through three phases. Your particular journey may well include aspects of them all. Any pathway on its own is an authentic journey of meaning; combinations of any two or three may also provide authenticity. Having a map does not predict which pathway you will take, only the shape of the journey in that direction.

Alternative Perceptions

The validity of a map depends on its usefulness. The first step in making that determination is to locate yourself on the map and then to see where your next step is likely to lead. In this case, the fundamental question is: "Does this description of the journey of meaning at work help you take the journey, or does it get you lost?" The traveler has to answer that question, but it's worth considering some alternative ways people view meaning at work.

Alternative One: There is no meaning at work Work is a necessary evil, and those who practice it seriously are deluded Companies are built on greed alone, so attempts to find a noble purpose are illusory diversions from the real business of making money. Mission statements that project a worthwhile aim of doing business attempt to delude staff into increasing their efforts to enrich shareholders. Many non-governmental organizations and quite a few in government and educational institutions share this view of business!

Many people in business also hold this viewpoint, and Dilbert cartoons relentlessly portray it to the considerable delight of workers. Letters to cartoonist Scott Adams from readers frequently outstrip the bleakness of the comics. The point Adams makes is this: since work is meaningless, do as little as possible, and use your energy to have fun.3

Alternative Two: Meaning at work equals happiness, and is a given. If you don't find it every day in every way, something is wrong with you. You need periodic hyping up through rallies or cheerleading sessions to reactivate waning enthusiasm and reignite personal passion. Workplaces should abound with contests, rewards and recognition to keep people happy.

Strong advocates of this alternative can be found in most sales-- based organizations. Insurance companies and direct selling organizations are especially adept practitioners of this understanding of the journey of meaning at work. If ever you lose touch with your perception of meaning, the firm, through its structures and through your peers, lets you know that you'd better shape up. Performance appraisals and counseling sessions often do this job.

Alternative Three: Meaning at work can be discovered, but the quest for meaning is endless and difficult. After seeing the other alternatives, the approach offered here as a third option should be welcome. It won't be. This paper offers the proposition that disillusionment is an authentic and inescapable phase in the ongoing search for meaning. The journey has three distinct phases. Surely when you experience disillusionment, something is wrong, right? No, this experience simply means you've reached Phase Two of the journey, and your source of meaning has shifted. It's not the endpoint, but it's a phase with its own integrity. People often move beyond disillusionment into Phase Three, but they never get over it.

The experience of disillusionment leaves you with an irrevocable sense of the futility of your work. No product, opportunity, service, or skill can shake the certainty that it all comes to naught. After going through Phase Two, you can offer insights that make Scott Adams seem hopelessly naive. He points only to stupidity as the source of difficulties. You are no longer upset or surprised when someone points out compromises, failures, self-seeking, backbiting, cheating, or even corruption and criminality going on at work. Still, you move through Phase Two into a state where that awareness is subsumed under a more vivid consciousness of the contribution of your work to the civilizing process.

The three phases are described below as they appear in the three primary approaches to meaning undertaken by people at work.

Unlike Alte One, this road map assumes that meaning is at least potentially available in any organization and any job. Unlike Alternative Two, each stage of the work life is considered authentic and meaningful and worth engaging fully in.

I trust that you will find this map less likely to get you lost than its alternatives. I welcome refinements that might contribute to the accuracy of this description of the way through.

Definition and phrases

By "meaning at work" we mean the "worthwhileness" or worthiness of an undertaking, a sense of its importance in a larger framework. Meaning at work is the contribution of a particular undertaking to a larger context that the meaning-- seeker values. Work that contributes to nothing beyond itself is often considered meaningless. Meaning at work, then, is the relationship between a particular undertaking and a larger framework in which it exists and to which it contributes.

A necessary precondition for meaning at work is a sense of value. If you do not value the larger context, then particular contributions to it carry no weight. If you don't care about your organization (or society, or humanity, or the cosmos, or God whatever your larger context is), then your work's importance to that context does not hold meaning for you. On the other hand, if the self is tops in your value chain, then work that contributes to the self (whether it enhances growth, pleasure or compensation), will be meaningful to you.

Meaning at work is the connection between the particular activity you are doing and something that you care about. As a relationship, it is both objective and subjective. Objectively, the connection, however remote, does exist; in the contemporary worldview of quantum physics, everything is related to everything else 4. Furthermore, a connection exists to an infinite number of realities: your particular work is not isolated. Subjectively, the quality of meaning varies with how much you value the broader contexts in which you operate. Those valuations constantly shift, so that meaning varies on a daily basis . Meaning at work is intensely personal, but to be real and not simply an illusion, it has to refer to an objective reality beyond itself- its valued context.

Despite the variations, there are three discernable phases through which the journey of meaning at work passes. In Phase One, you are subjectively fixated on the broader context. In Phase Two, your attention reverts to the particular situation in which you are immersed. In Phase Three, you experience attraction to the relationship between particular and universal. Another way to put it is that in Phase One, you have a naive attachment to a grand cause; in Phase Two, the cause seems finite, fallible, and possibly even fraudulent, wholly unable to allay the awareness of spending your life in trivial particulars. In Phase Three, you "see through" to the ultimate unworthiness of all that is and therefore its objective value as a connected, interrelated whole6. These phases are described in detail later.

The Issue of Meaning at Work

a. Historical Sketch

In the early days of business, when feudalism was beginning to wane and commerce beginning to develop, people were identified with their work. Family names described the family's jobs (such as Weaver, Baker, Smith, Farmer, Butler, Carpenter, Shoemaker, Merchant, Mason, etc.). Society was composed of different occupational groupings structured into guilds that provided both occupational training and personal care. The sense of meaning - of contributing significantly to the larger social enterprise - was clearly tied to one's work, to which one was often born.

With the industrial revolution came separation of the person from the work. Work itself was divided into pieces, and the individual's role consisted in dealing with one part of a larger process. Since one neither owned the process nor completed more than a small segment of it, meaning was more difficult to perceive in the work. People came to have essentially two "lives," one related to the job and another to their "personal" relationships. Meaning, divorced from work, came to reside in religious communities, home, family, hobbies, friends and other voluntary associations. Work came to be regarded primarily as a means to procure the necessary sustenance to engage in other pursuits.

With the advent of the information age, work is becoming more holistic, demanding, and all consuming, in parallel with a dramatic decline in "extra-curricular" sources of meaning, despite occasional bursts of vitality from voluntary associations. Simultaneously, traditional barriers separating people by space, ideology, race, culture, religion have collapsed, occasioning a search for foundations. Is everything totally relative, or are there solid roots in which to anchor? The question of meaning in the contemporary era is alive and well!

Meaning at work has gained the attention of a growing number of writers in recent years.7 It seems that people want more from work than simply a paycheck and are turning to various gurus to fmd it. Programs from Covey8 to Fish9 highlight your own responsibility for securing the extra dimension of satisfaction from your undertakings. Collins and Porras chronicle instances where major corporations have provided a conducive environment in which to attain it.1 Charles Handy and James Autrey continue to produce book after book" to guide managers in creating an environment in which meaning can flourish.

In a research project on meaning at work, Tom Terez discovered that people from all walks of work life were eager to talk about meaning and ways to recover it in their work. From two years of interviews, he distilled no fewer than 22 "keys" to a meaningful workplace12. It seems that people found different factors important. Although there was no unanimity, "purpose" seems to have been at the top of the priorities for those interviewed.

b. The "Feel" of the Issue

The question of meaning often comes as a gnawing internal "Why?" When no satisfactory answer is given or manifest in the situation, demoralization sets in. "Why?" turns quickly into "Why bother?" Work is not only about making a living; it is also about making a difference. When you can't tell what difference your work is making, your commitment to doing it well quickly declines. You become sort of a pseudo-person at work, going through the motions, but without heart. You sense that you have more to offer than the job allows. You feel constrained, often by intangible forces, but sometimes by regulations or superiors who won't tolerate variations from prescribed routines. Your creativity is stifled. Usually you soldier on, continuing to keep on keeping on, while hope for change dims.

Cynicism easily takes over, and you find occasions for faultfinding throughout the organization. Dilbert becomes a treasured source of humor, mocking the inadequacies of "the system" at every turn.

It would be an error to assume that this situation is a mistake to be corrected. Meaning does not come easily, nor does the quest for it go away. We as facilitators need only to assume that our clients and we ourselves are on the journey.

II. Pathways to Meaning

Three broad "pathways" provide access to the dimension of meaning: the past, the present, and the future. Meaning relative to the past is called significance; relative to the present, profe/nalia; relative to the future, purpose.

A Significance - The Past

The Past - Phase One

Meaning as significance relates to the past. You sense that your profession has a noble tradition, and you are honored to be part of it In fact, you sense an obligation to uphold the highest standards that make the profession a significant contributor to the human journey. Heroic people have achieved landmarks in the past, and you aspire to play a similar role in the present. Organizations that use this approach to meaning usually make a great deal of their corporate heroes, whether they are from the executive suite or from the front line. Some organizations have a "hall of fame" where heroes are displayed along with their contributions; others have photographs or quotations liberally sprinkled throughout the facilities. People are expected to take note of these "heroes" and to see what is possible now. The objective is to remind people of the noble and significant work in which they are engaged.

When you actually "latch on" to a hero in your profession, then you have a role model. This person supposedly dealt with the difficulties you face, and in spite of them, made a notable contribution to the profession. A role model is an inspiration to do your best, to go beyond the norms and to excel.

Meaning also comes through the past in the form of significant events that mark the organization's life. Perhaps a breakthrough was made, a startling achievement that transformed the way things were done. And people hark back to that, not as the "good old days," but as exemplifying an ongoing possibility for achievement Such "great moments" are inspiring.

Meaning from the significance of work depends on a living past that informs and guides the present

The Past - Phase Two

As someone once said, "The past is not what it used to be!" The closer you get to your "heroes," the more distant their heroism becomes. Very few reputations can sustain intense scrutiny. Hero myths have an agonizing tendency to crumble in the face of examination. So, as you pursue your role model, that life appears decreasingly admirable and you come to realize that this person was not much different from you, and hardly one to inspire you to greater efforts. You are alone in your undertaking, and unlikely to make much of a mark. Hero-worship inevitably leads to a depressing "twilight of the gods." There's essentially no one to look up to.

The inspiring significance of "great moments" in the organization likewise tends to fade away. Maybe those were important contributions back then, but what's that got to do with us here and now?!? You begin to sense that conditions were so different in the past that comparisons are not really justified. You look back on the history, no longer as a corporate story of our past, but now as a curious set of alien events totally irrelevant to the present undertaking. Our "glorious history" has become "just one damn thing after another." You're caught up in a venture of never-ending tedium.

The Past - Phase Three

Once your disillusionment with the past is complete, you sometimes get a sense that the work is nevertheless ongoing. It has not been sucked down the drain of history, but persists in all its imperfections, tedium, and downright perversity.

And you sense that this situation has never been different, that the organization and everyone in it is sustained by something that exceeds the capacity to understand or explain. Because it exists, it is significant, a contributor to the entire human enterprise. And your role in it, because it too exists, is worthy of every effort you can undertake: it's your life.

Meaning at work in the form of significance goes through the three phases outlined above as the past is first, a source of inspiration, second, an occasion for disgust, and third, evidence for appreciation".

B. Professionalism - The Present

The Present - Phase One

Meaning as professionalism involves skill or artistry, and relates to the present Some people really like what they're doing and would keep doing it regardless of the circumstances. There are musicians who find special gigs during breaks from their seasonal commitments, actors who do summer stock, accountants who volunteer to help friends with their income tax. A preschool teacher in a war zone, when her school was overrun and she became a refugee, set up a series of preschools in temporary refugee camps so the children would be cared for and the parents could get a break14.

For some people, there sometimes seems to be a "fit" between their personal talents and interests and their work. When this fit happens, the quality of work is superior, it reaches a level of artistry unattainable by the majority. You find it more than simply meaningful - you find it a "calling," a vocation. Finding this fit is the aim of vocational counselors and HRD professionals around the world.

The Present - Phase Two

The fascination, however strong, doesn't last. A unique manifestation of disillusionment occurs with professionals. You tend to lose perspective, to find performance flaws intolerable in yourself and unbearable in others. Instead of joyfully carrying out your professional responsibility, you find it burdensome in the extreme. Each miniscule part of the task seems to open itself to infinite possible flaws, and you are consumed by the need to address each one. Again, it's the particulars that get you. There still may be fascination with the profession, but its attractiveness has disappeared in a morass of flawed details, each demanding your attention15.

Frustration accelerates, because you know it can be done, even if not by you. Perfection is elusive, but anything less is unacceptable. Outsiders and admirers may counsel taking it easy or giving yourself a break, but those comments only add to the frustration. You know what is possible and begin to sense the time and effort required to approach it. You wonder why you ever chose something so demanding and begin to suspect that you're doomed to mediocre performance if you continue.

The Present - Phase Three

It is a never-ending journey to master a craft, whether that craft is violin-making or golf or medicine or sweeping or consulting. You become identified with your profession and, in the eyes of others, appear blessed with extraordinary skill, commitment, and artistry. To you, it never seems quite like that. It seems more like an endless journey towards miniscule improvements that, if you ever stop, your performance drops.

On his 95th birthday, the famous cellist Pablo Cassals was asked why he still practiced six hours per day. "I think," he replied, "I'm getting better."

In your own eyes, you remain an apprentice.

Meaning at this level consists of living in the relationship between the ideal and your actual performance. "Pm getting better" is as good as it gets. Of course your performance, in the eyes of others, far surpasses any standards of acceptability, but at this stage, you are not playing to the crowd but to the art itself. It doesn't get easier, it just gets better. All it takes is all you have. And if you give any less, you know it.

C. Purpose - The Future

The Future. Phase One

Meaning as purpose relates to the future- When you think about the mission of your organization, you are proud to be part of that undertaking because it resonates with your own personal mission 16. A lot has been made of developing a "mission statement" for organizations, precisely because of this fact A good mission statement addresses staff pride more than the corporate sense of strategy. A good mission statement expresses the purpose of the organization, the "why" of its being, the cause to which it is devoted. When you have a clear sense of purpose, a definite cause to serve, you may not know what tomorrow will bring, but you know what you will be about, whatever happens. Disney, for example, is about "making people happy." Employees working for Disney may be called on to sweep the grounds, bit they understand that task to be in the service of making people happy, something they are committed to.

As this example shows, in this dimension of meaning, you derive meaning from the "macro-purpose" rather than the particular job. You may or may not be committed to the job of sweeping, but you are thoroughly devoted to making people happy, and if it takes sweeping, then so be it. The connection between the job and the purpose must be visible, obvious, and sustained. Once someone feels isolated from the purpose, demoralization sets in. When it is maintained, however, you may rightly be expected to perform a variety of necessary tasks, and will likely carry them out with no complaints.

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

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.

III. Implications

Given the three approaches to meaning and their three levels or phases, how can we as facilitators assist an organization to use its past, future, and present to disclose the dimension of meaning to its members"?

a. The Past

Regarding significance and the past, facilitators can help organizations develop their history. It is important to capture the legends of the founders and the stories of both great and notso-great moments. Facilitators can conduct a participative workshop in which people remember their experiences and develop a "Wall of Wonder" that graphically portrays them. Story-telling sessions can be facilitated to add spice and liveliness to the memories.

When the data is compiled, it needs to be made accessible throughout the organization. Perhaps a brief handbook can be printed for newcomers, and perhaps some time for reminiscing can be part of corporate meetings. Photos of the founders can be prominently displayed, and perhaps a museum case of old technologies can be set up. One particularly interesting display is in a state-of-the-art computer-training institute?o. They have established a showcase of ancient computers and IT technologies. One views the display with a combination of appreciation, humor, and significance at just how far the industry has come in a relatively few years. You sense that you are part of a very lively history that is moving ahead at a breakneck pace.

But because people's experience of meaning expands with the size of the context, that history needs to go back before the founding of the particular organization to its roots in primordial human experience. When you can link the latest hotshot hi-tech Initial Public Offering with the proto-humans whose innovations included the use of fire for cooking, then you are not only part of this organization, you are also part of the human process of innovation. Facilitators can push groups to discern their links to the primordial past.

The Present

Regarding professionalism in the present, facilitators can help clients be active in their professions. Professional associations exist to enhance the meaning of their profession. They do not make you into a professional, but they assist people who have achieved that state to discern and reaffirm its meaning. When people who are artistic in a particular craft get together, lively discussion is inevitable. In fact, the level of discourse is likely to assume a language of its own, one that leaves "outsiders" far outside. Each profession adopts its unique technical language. Clergy discuss eschatology and soteriology; health professionals talk about hematology and oncology, policemen discuss perpetrators, geeks talk about gigabytes, (and of course, government officials talk about retirement). Both facilitators and physicists talk about force field analysis, but you suspect that they are not talking to each other! The language not only provides useful technical terms for detailed descriptions, it also makes one part of the in-group of the profession and so bestows a sense of meaning.

People take great delight in talking about their work with people who understand what they're talking about and who share the same attraction for it The gathering of people engaged in similar pursuits is itself a source of meaning, far more so than any particular presentation made at those gatherings. As facilitators, we do not need to learn the language of our clients, but we do need to recognize and call attention to the fact that it is unique and valuable. Showing appreciation for it may be sufficient to give honor and meaning to those using the unique language. Certain styles of dress tend to mark particular professions, and donning the professional "uniform" provides a sense of belonging to a special fraternity or sorority. Nurses, doctors, yachtsmen, lawyers, security guards, clergy, business people virtually any profession has a unique style of dress that members adopt.

The dress and the language heighten a sense of belonging, and the professional finds delight in the "chemistry" among people of the same profession. Even when people disagree totally about issues, their tensions seem more within the "family" and are incomprehensible to outsiders.

An organization that wants to capitalize on this access to meaning can provide uniforms or special forms of dress or identification for the different professions in them. Another company might lump people together as one within the organization. Whether the emphasis is placed on the organization or on the profession within the organization, a distinctive dress code can disclose meaning. Facilitators can suggest to clients the option of considering unique dress patterns. It can also be useful to provide places for informal discussions among people carrying out similar functions. For example, as facilitators we might have occasion to recommend a space for "sharing approaches that work" to clients.

a The Future

Regarding the future and purpose, facilitators can assist organizations to develop their statements of mission and purpose. According to research by Collins and Pon-as, it doesn't matter so much what that purpose is, so long as it's clear and is followed vigorously. Philip Morris, for example, is cited as a company whose purpose is to promote freedom of choice (to smoke or not to smoke?). Presumably, people devoted to freedom of choice would find work at Philip Morris meaningful. I personally find it less so since the avenue of choice they seem to be promoting is the rampant spread of carcinogens. Perhaps that's the prejudice of an ex-smoker.

It would seem more desirable and effective to delineate a nobler purpose, one that lets people sense their contribution to society. If care is a defining characteristic of human beings, then mission statements that tap into that care would be desirable. Few organizations would find this difficult; by far the majority of organizations do in fact contribute positively to civilization or they would not last. It's a matter of inquiring into what contribution the organization makes, what human need it serves, what difficulty it addresses. Boeing, for example, might state its mission as providing the means for people to get together, rather than "pushing the edge of aviation technology." But, as this example shows, people are different, and it may be that engineers need the hard challenge of staying on the edge rather than the "softer" one of bettering human life. In any case, these purposes aren't exclusive. As facilitators, we can assist our clients to develop a purposeful mission statement that has the potential to inspire members of the organization.

However the organization's purpose is defined, it needs to be visibly displayed and rigorously pursued. Lip service will not enhance meaning, only cynicism. The purpose might be shown in posters or as slogans or on uniforms. Certainly it needs to be published in a piece that every member of the organization has access to. Mission and purpose are not about company strategy so much as they are about company meaning.

It will help to facilitate consideration of the long-range intention to conduct exercises in which people imagine the positive consequences of carrying out the organization's mission. Although the results may seem far-fetched, the exercise encourages everyone to develop their own positive relationship to the unknown future.

IV. Conclusion

As will be obvious by now, the methods described above apply mainly to Phase One of the three pathways to meaning. When the crisis of Phase Two occurs, there is little point in trying to reinforce the joys of Phase One. People are now focused on the tedium of the particular, and reference to the glories of the larger framework will only increase the frustration.

In Phase Two, the facilitator's role shifts from indicating the grandeur of the past or the present or the future, to exploring the wonder of the particular. We can attempt to disclose meaning in every trivial detail and every onerous flaw. Each specific aspect of the work that tends to cause disgust in Phase Two can also become a moment of wonder. Without coming across as hopelessly naive, the facilitator needs to find ways of disclosing that wonder - such as creating art from the everyday, or developing stories about mundane experiences. After all, "Up close, miracles look a lot like daily drudgery."21

When people reach Phase Three, meaning is not really an issue for them They tend to embody the meaning of their work so much that they don't bother to mention it at all! One of the paradoxes of meaning is that those who are most in touch with it tend to talk least about it. It is simply assumed in everything they do. The facilitator's role in this situation is to assist these "saints" to become mentors. This can involve helping people in Phase Three to reflect on their own journey and to mark its stepping stones. But it may also involve equipping them with facilitation skills and mentoring finesse so that people who encounter them can benefit from their journey.

Notes

1 Cf. Taylor, William C. (1994). Control in an Age of Chaos. Harvard Business Review, November-December, 1994. See pp. 70-72 for a review of Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, with an emphasis on meaning (details in endnote 10).

2 Cf. Compare with Korten, David (1995). When Corporations Rule the World. Kumarian Press, Berrett-Koehler Publishers. For a different view but still in the alternative that work is without meaning, see Pollen, Stephen M. & Levine, Mark(1997). Die Broke: A Radical Four-Part Financial Plan. New York: Harper Business.

3 Scott Adams (1998). The Joy of Work Dilbert's Guide to Finding Happiness at the Expense of Your Co-workers. New York: Harper Collins. See also www.toxicbosses.com for more stories of meaninglessness at work.

4Cf. Herbert, Nick (1985). Quantum Reality: Beyond the New Physics, An Excursion into Metaphysics and the Meaning of Reality. New York: Doubleday Anchor, especially. Bell's Interconnectedness Theorem, pp. 50-52 and 211-223.

5 This approach does not suggest or imply that meaning requires one to be "externally dependent"- or "internally dependent." Meaning at work is not simply manufactured by the self, nor is it simply

created by the environment. It is an intensely personal reality with an objective referent. Both internal and external factors play a significant role in the journey of meaning. Having a great working environment does not guarantee the experience of meaning, nor does having a lousy one preclude it. But the journey of meaning at work includes both personal decisions and external realities. The "map" presented below makes that point by presenting the phases as personal experiences of the external environment.

6 This schema is different from the one that suggests first, a latent meaning, second, a crisis/awakening, and third, a discovery. This schema elaborates on the "discovery" phase and finds it not at all static but rather ongoing.

7 Cf. the bibliography compiled by Jean Watts in "Think Tank on Technology of Meaning" in Proceedings ofL4F Conference, 1998, listing 58 works, 55 of which were written in the 1990s and in thel 9 80s.

8 Covey, Stephen (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Simon & Schuster.

9 Lundin, Stephen, Paul, Harry, and Christensen, John (2000). Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results. New York: Hyperion.

Collins, James C. and Porras, Jerry L. (1994). Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. London: Century.

11 Cf. Handy, Charles (1994). The Empty Raincoat: Making Sense of the Future. London: Hutchinson, and Autrey, James (1994). Life and Work A Manager's Search for Meaning. (New York: William Morrow & Co.

12 Terez, Tom, http://www.betterworkplacenow.com/akeyfind.html.

13 A similar journey goes on in the quest for meaning in the context of personal life. First there is a phase of progress and milestones; second, a phase of disillusionment in which your progress seems to cease; and finally, a phase of persistence in which you keep on keeping on. This paper, however, examines only the experience of the journey of meaning at work.

14 This case came to light during training teaming for partners of Redd Barna (Norwegian Save the Children) conducted in Sri Lanka by Ann Epps, Judy Gilles, Mary D'Souza, and Kevin Balm in October 1995.

13 At this time of writing, Tiger Woods, arguably the most gifted golfer ever to have played, seems to have hit this stage - he finished out of the top 10 for three consecutive tournaments. Newspapers report him saying that he's doing well on either fairways or greens, but he can't seem to get them both together.

16Although I staunchly advocate developing personal mission statements, it is not a prerequisite to finding meaning in purposeful work. Many people adopt the mission of their organization as their personal mission.

17 For a discussion of this point, see "More than Profits", Chapter 3 of Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies , pp. 48-79 (details in endnote 10). See also Kaplan, Robert &Norton, David (2000). Having Trouble with Strategy? Then Map It, Harvard Business Review, pp. 167-176 for a discussion of achieving a "line of sight" between one's job and the organization's strategy. Regrettably, this "Balanced Scorecard"

strategy map places "Improve shareholder value" as the epitome of strategy as though it were the firm's purpose. This is a common error that confuses a measurement with a purpose.

"'a Epps, John (1997). Purpose in Business, MF Newsletter. November, 1997.

19 For a more extensive explication of effective ways for organizations to embody a meaningful ambience, see Epps, John (1995). Respiriting Organizations, Journal for Quality and Participation. July/August 1995, pp. 40-47.

mAsia Pacific Institute of Information Technology, APIIT. 21 Cheryl Hood, personal e-mail, January, 2000.

Epps, John L. (2003) The Journey of Meaning at Work. Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal, Number 5. Copyright by the authors and International Association of Facilitators. All rights reserved.

The Author

John Epps is a founding member of the International Association of Facilitators and a frequent presenter at its conferences. He initiated a series of UF think tanks on "Technology of Meaning" at the 1995 conference and has pursued the topic since that time. He is currently director of LENS International, a consulting company in Malaysia and Singapore. Clients include companies in the petroleum, banking, insurance, and manufacturing sectors. He has published articles in IMAGE, the Journal of Personal and Organization Transformation; The Journal of Quality and Participation; EDGES, New Planetary Patterns; and The Facilitator. He received his BA degree from The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, and his PhD from Southern Methodist University. Contact John L. Epps, PhD, 4/15 Faber Ria, Taman Desa, 58100 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA. Tel: (603) 7957-5604, Fax: (603) 7956-4420, E-- mail: jlepps@pc.jaring.my

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