the meaning revolution

What if I told you that you were going to spend upwards of 68,640 hours doing something important? What questions would you have? What would be your demands, wants, needs, must haves?

My first thoughts would be “wow that’s a lot of time; is what I’m doing going to matter? What will be made better as a result of all of those hours?”

Well folks – this is a 40 hour work week for 33 years – the typical career span of a collegiate American adult. How many of us have looked at a career in this way? What impact will all of those hours have? Will it matter?

Enter – the “great resignation”, or “great reflection”, or “great rethinking”. For the first time in our lives many of us are actually asking those questions. Am I more than a zoom participant, or a slack contributor? Is my company’s mission to help solve one of the world’s greatest challenges? Am I more than a number, do they actually care about me? Do I genuinely care for my employees and co-workers – or is the culture about competing with them?

I think we will look back at the moment we are in right now as a pivotal moment in history; the “meaning revolution”. For the first time in a long time, the power is with the people that don’t sit in the boardrooms. The people that don’t own the voting shares. The people that want it all to matter more than a paycheck, or some stock options. The people that buy the products and use the services realize their power and want it all to matter. The employees that build the items, dream up the services – they want it all to matter; they want to matter.

Some companies are getting it and they are winning the talent siege – the others still haven’t figured it out; and when they wake up, they will realize they have lost their best people, their heartbeat, and their fighting chance to matter in this new world.

If you are looking at this and uncertain about what to make of it, do this: make it matter. Make your company mean something to the world – bigger than share price alone. Make your employees valued – truly valued. Not just because you hope to keep them, but because you need them – the company needs them. Make your mission bigger than you and your compensation – make it matter on the world stage. Make goods and services the world actually needs, versus just trying to make a buck. Make your people excited to do the work, to drive an impact, and to make a difference.

No this doesn’t mean all companies need to be altruistic non-profits but meaning is no longer “a nice to have”, it’s a requirement. Meaning starts with things as simple as knowing an employee’s name – asking them what they need. Appreciating people for their work and their contributions and not only when they have another offer on the table. Meaning is about creating a seat at the table for diverse perspectives and dissenting voices. Meaning is valuing life above work (even though we can still love our jobs), but no longer will we miss the big soccer games, the school plays, the birthdays and the community events – those mean something to your people and therefore they should mean something to your company. Let’s start with basic human needs and go from there.

Let’s train leaders to lead meaningfully. Let’s really listen to what matters to our employees. Let’s reinvent the work-week, the work-day, and the whole concept of work-time. Let’s look critically at the meetings, the emails, the unhealthy office politics. Let’s tackle the insecurity, the megalomania, and the other attitudes and behaviors through which meaning cannot survive. Let’s listen to what people need, and rethink the way things are done. Let’s make it all mean something. Let’s make it matter.

Let’s start now, even if it isn’t perfect. The time is now; the clock is ticking.