Hi all,
A few weeks ago I sent an email about the pernicious myth of work-life balance. I explained it as a preface to some thoughts on “purpose.” This week I presented nearly half-a-dozen times on knowing our “Why”—our purpose. Both the email and the presentations have gotten lots of responses—clearly this has touched a deep chord in many of us. The relentless focus on who, what, when, where, and how misses the most vital point…WHY? When we started discussing this, the room lit up.
I think this happened because collectively we were refusing to accept work as a principal/agent problem. We were finding our personal whys. In the principal/agent world, the agent loves life and hates work but is willing to give up some of the life they love for the work they hate in exchange for money. The principal must keep the amount high enough to get the agent to give up something they love yet low enough to make a profit. This is a ticket to disengagement—even disaster, yet many (most?) businesses are built on this principle. When we don’t have a clear WHY, this is all we have left.
This is why Gallup says in 2020 only 34% of employees were engaged, 50% were unengaged and 16% were actively disengaged.
Even the Chronicle of Higher Education chimed in this week to prove this point. I encourage you to read this article when you finish this email. In it, faculty describe how they feel in the throes of Covid, demographic cliffs, political unrest, social justice challenges. You can hear them calling for a higher purpose.
Every effort has been made to focus on enrollment with no regard to the mission of the university…
I feel the pull to disengage strongly now…
it’s been awful.. the deterioration of a sense of belonging and connection to my work-life
For the first time in 17 years, my job feels like work more than vocation.
And what happens when we disengage? We begin to rationalize and even define the Principle/Agent problem.
My level of disengagement is healthier for me…
As a tenured faculty member with a bit more job security, I can now say “No” to all the superfluous service…
This is my job and I do it for the requisite number of hours for pay — I have let go of the vocational awe that made it a calling worthy of sacrifice.
Work isn’t my life; it is what enables me to live my life.
If we believe this, we are on a bad path.
Perhaps worst of all:
At this point, I cannot think of anything that would change my attitude. Too much damage has been done…
Is it too late? THIS SHOULD FRIGHTEN US.
Buckingham and Goodall summed it up best:
What we, as team members, want from you, our team leader, is firstly that you make us feel part of something bigger, that you show us how what we are doing together is important and meaningful…
So now would be a great time to get clear on your why and your organization’s why. Know this: in 100% of the cases of my colleagues, the folks I work with, even myself, work dissatisfaction has never been because of the bad boss or long hours—it has been an ambiguous purpose or a fundamental disagreement between the personal why and the organization’s why.
Perhaps Francois Chateaubriand said it best:
A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever his is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.
I’ve attached some questions that are useful in discovering our personal and organizational why. Why are you on this earth? When you fulfill your why, there is no principal/agent problem. Why is your organization on this earth? When you know that, you will not see statements like those in The Chronicle.
The power of purpose is undeniable. I am happy to chat with you about this.
Stay safe and well,
Mark
P.S. As I was writing this, the chronicle added an article on the power of telling your students why.
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