The other day a new team member who is barely out of college proactively did something that was beyond the scope of work assigned to her.
It wasn't a lot of toil for her but saved a lot of downstream effort for the team.
All she had done was thinking through why she was doing what she was doing and how her work would get used by the next person.
Now this sounds so normal that it borders on being boring.
Yet, in my opinion, this is one professional trait that is fast disappearing from many workplaces.
Many managers don't care to explain the context behind the work, many employees don't bother to ask. The problem gets worse in large teams, cross functional projects, and in remote work set up where personal connect between team members is likely to be low.
In the era of quiet quitting, moonlighting, rage quitting (what other jargon I am missing?) where the general trust between employer and employees seems to be dipping, the default for many people is to just 'check-the- box' on what they have been asked to do.
Both employers and employees are to blame.
What are we missing in the process?
Just the plain, simple joy of work. The kick that comes from challenging yourself, getting in a state of flow, that feeling of being useful to others, solving a seemingly complex problem, accomplishing something as a team after toiling for it together, and celebrating the success.
In modern societies, the work we do is more than a means of putting food on the table and more than a way to increase shareholder value for the corporation.
Time we collectively rethink organized work and get it the glory it deserves, beyond the economics part of it.
Here is how I would describe the purpose of work:
For an average person, it is a source of meaning, purpose, and identity.
For an average corporation, it is a means to make the world a better place.
That's it.
#work #people #team