It is a very good breakdown. I think the reasons I don’t want to go back to corporate after being laid off are a lack of meaning and disconnect from my values. I no longer can justify to myself going there and sitting at endless meeting talking about nothing and pretending that it is all very important.
Honestly, I am not surprised. Every day felt like a torture and a complete waste of life. And at 35, I realized that the system just broke me and I can’t continue anymore…
love how you've broken down meaning into observable categories. super helpful.
the manufactured necessity one stuck out to me. it got me wondering to what extent this whole thing, this whole "society" we built, is actually necessary. how much of it is necessary? how much of it is just nice-to-haves? how much innovation do humans truly need to be okay?
maybe the discontent with so many jobs is that there's a part of us that sees how it's all just invented, and not all that necessary.
Interesting point, it would be a really interesting exercise to develop some sort of criteria to better understand what in society is superfluous to human happiness. I imagine it would be a lot more than people would expect.
Looking forward to exploring this more with you soon!
I think that links a lot with the content of the book "Limits to growth", as the authors explore how society could change to sustain a good level of life for everyone on Earth, without striving for unnecessary and often toxic things.
That came from 1972 book when population explosion looked too imminent. And after that World economy got more integrated and cross pollination of ideas like DINK - Double Income No Kids, Solo Polyamory, Anti Nataliam, Birth Control instruments, High performance standards or Career First mindset in the cause of Financial Independence, Gender Wars, Apps led economy supporting individualistic living. Now we are witnessing a reverse trend - coming depopulation crisis. Nobody has any clue how to stop this declining trend set in motion.
Re. work that's all just invented - and not necessary, I think its hard to say what's not necessary? In Alex's example, he mentions made-up jobs, jobs where people are fighting for their 'worth'. But if people truly believe their job matters, they may be more willing to (and capable of) make the case for their work and their unique contribution, thereby defeating the cycle of meaninglessness. Just a thought.
I had to laugh. When I started reading, I thought :"Oh, this reminds me of David Graeber's book 'Bullshit Jobs'." And then, lo and behold, you mention the book. 😁
Another thought experiment is 'If they made me redundant, how would they replace me, if at all?" One of the crushing things about redundancy is to see that the things that were working on didn't really matter and that your absence doesn't seem to affect anything (which means you were not valued, as an individual OR as a credential). The realisation of all that you've written about hits you like a truck.
A short cut to this is observe what happens when others are made redundant.
I just wrote about this, uncanny! I think ultimately a lot of leaders are not thinking about the dignity of work, that they're responsible for (or at least have a direct impact on) how someone is spending a huge amount of their time/life. The underlying thought is, "Well, you're getting paid, aren't you?"
Interesting framework - and I love that you point out these different ways of feeling like you don't matter, requires different ways to approach finding 'mattering'. I'm particularly excited about how this framing sets up a pretty clear map of how the presumed job losses stemming from AI can be addressed if we, as a society, are looking to transition the workforce to optimal productivity. Finding meaning in work differs for everyone but economists and policymakers tend to look at work as 'work' and economic throughput as opposed to what happens if the work is all meaningless.
It’s possible you cover this and I didn’t pick this up….but I’d say another issue is finding work that directly addresses the biggest issues of our times. Outside of working in a climate business, it’s hard to find roles that contribute to addressing the big issues of our time.
Rutger Bregmans framework for understanding which problems are worth solving is the gold standard on this in my opinion.
He says that we should move away from choosing careers based solely on passion or profit, and instead evaluate problems based on three criteria:
Sizeable: The problem must have a large scale impact
Solvable: The problem should be one which there is genuine evidence to support that meaningful progress could be made.
Sorely Overlooked (or Neglected): The problem should not be crowded with talent. If everyone is already working on a problem, your individual contribution is diluted.
For sure. Really enjoyed his recent BBC Reith Lectures. I think there’s some work to be done on his morality point but he’s absolutely one of the few im aware of that’s helping people understand what’s required to rebalance us.
This quote is brilliant “You worked to become someone in particular, and now you’re being used as someone in general, and the gap between those two things is where the meaninglessness lives.” - this is often what happens when companies scale and revert from relying on the generalists that made the impossible possible in the early days, to specialists who are brilliant in their narrow field but struggle to connect their expertise beyond their function. Both the generalists and specialists end up frustrated
Brillaint breakdown of why so many roles feel hollow. The manufactured necessity category really got me thinking about how organizations justify keeping certain processes alive long after they've stopped serving anyone. Had a stint at a place where we tracked things just becuase thats how it was always done. Nobody could explain why anymore but everyone kept doing it.
I've honestly heard so many stories, it's shocking how many extraordinarily talented people are working in jobs where nobody would know if they weren't there.
A very precise zoom-in on meaninglessness. I like how you put it "meaning is not binary". Also how you put a weightage to it and how we stay for that smaller percentage that feels meaningful despite the overall dissatisfaction. At the end of the day, the question we should be asking ourselves comes down to our value system. I think I read this at the perfect timing because I happened to have just written a piece about how meaning and values can change over time.
This is so helpful, THANK YOU. Definitely helps me understand my own career confusion better, especially realising that what I've been grappling with is a lot of Interchangeability with a chaser of Lack of Authorship. This gives me a great lense through which to filter my next roles/career moves.
Much of strategy consulting is this. I sat in so many board rooms playing intellectual ping pong over pretty PowerPoint slides only for no decisions to be made and status quo continued.
It is a very good breakdown. I think the reasons I don’t want to go back to corporate after being laid off are a lack of meaning and disconnect from my values. I no longer can justify to myself going there and sitting at endless meeting talking about nothing and pretending that it is all very important.
I’ve spoken to so many people who feel the same way!
Honestly, I am not surprised. Every day felt like a torture and a complete waste of life. And at 35, I realized that the system just broke me and I can’t continue anymore…
Exactly this… pretending that everything is very important
same
love how you've broken down meaning into observable categories. super helpful.
the manufactured necessity one stuck out to me. it got me wondering to what extent this whole thing, this whole "society" we built, is actually necessary. how much of it is necessary? how much of it is just nice-to-haves? how much innovation do humans truly need to be okay?
maybe the discontent with so many jobs is that there's a part of us that sees how it's all just invented, and not all that necessary.
Thanks David! Glad you liked it.
Interesting point, it would be a really interesting exercise to develop some sort of criteria to better understand what in society is superfluous to human happiness. I imagine it would be a lot more than people would expect.
Looking forward to exploring this more with you soon!
I think that links a lot with the content of the book "Limits to growth", as the authors explore how society could change to sustain a good level of life for everyone on Earth, without striving for unnecessary and often toxic things.
That came from 1972 book when population explosion looked too imminent. And after that World economy got more integrated and cross pollination of ideas like DINK - Double Income No Kids, Solo Polyamory, Anti Nataliam, Birth Control instruments, High performance standards or Career First mindset in the cause of Financial Independence, Gender Wars, Apps led economy supporting individualistic living. Now we are witnessing a reverse trend - coming depopulation crisis. Nobody has any clue how to stop this declining trend set in motion.
Depopulation sets in Limits to Growth phenomenon.
https://youtu.be/ahjdeDhP09o?si=il5vNTFD0UTb3ie3
Thank you for putting this into words. Those exact questions go through my mind frequently.
Re. work that's all just invented - and not necessary, I think its hard to say what's not necessary? In Alex's example, he mentions made-up jobs, jobs where people are fighting for their 'worth'. But if people truly believe their job matters, they may be more willing to (and capable of) make the case for their work and their unique contribution, thereby defeating the cycle of meaninglessness. Just a thought.
I had to laugh. When I started reading, I thought :"Oh, this reminds me of David Graeber's book 'Bullshit Jobs'." And then, lo and behold, you mention the book. 😁
Hahah yes it's a classic!
Very well described.
Another thought experiment is 'If they made me redundant, how would they replace me, if at all?" One of the crushing things about redundancy is to see that the things that were working on didn't really matter and that your absence doesn't seem to affect anything (which means you were not valued, as an individual OR as a credential). The realisation of all that you've written about hits you like a truck.
A short cut to this is observe what happens when others are made redundant.
A really good exercise! often it's too late
Loved it, so relatable. You get home from your corporate job and can’t really tell what you actually did past 8 hours.
Thanks!
Or why you did it, or what impact, if any, it will have. *sigh*
This is SO good!
Thanks so much!
I just wrote about this, uncanny! I think ultimately a lot of leaders are not thinking about the dignity of work, that they're responsible for (or at least have a direct impact on) how someone is spending a huge amount of their time/life. The underlying thought is, "Well, you're getting paid, aren't you?"
Good point! I've certainly seen this attitude first hand.
Interesting framework - and I love that you point out these different ways of feeling like you don't matter, requires different ways to approach finding 'mattering'. I'm particularly excited about how this framing sets up a pretty clear map of how the presumed job losses stemming from AI can be addressed if we, as a society, are looking to transition the workforce to optimal productivity. Finding meaning in work differs for everyone but economists and policymakers tend to look at work as 'work' and economic throughput as opposed to what happens if the work is all meaningless.
Thanks, yes I agree, it's a really interesting time for a potential reset on our relationship to work.
Great points
Love Graeber - sorely missed. Great summary!
It’s possible you cover this and I didn’t pick this up….but I’d say another issue is finding work that directly addresses the biggest issues of our times. Outside of working in a climate business, it’s hard to find roles that contribute to addressing the big issues of our time.
For context I’m in the UK.
Rutger Bregmans framework for understanding which problems are worth solving is the gold standard on this in my opinion.
He says that we should move away from choosing careers based solely on passion or profit, and instead evaluate problems based on three criteria:
Sizeable: The problem must have a large scale impact
Solvable: The problem should be one which there is genuine evidence to support that meaningful progress could be made.
Sorely Overlooked (or Neglected): The problem should not be crowded with talent. If everyone is already working on a problem, your individual contribution is diluted.
For sure. Really enjoyed his recent BBC Reith Lectures. I think there’s some work to be done on his morality point but he’s absolutely one of the few im aware of that’s helping people understand what’s required to rebalance us.
This quote is brilliant “You worked to become someone in particular, and now you’re being used as someone in general, and the gap between those two things is where the meaninglessness lives.” - this is often what happens when companies scale and revert from relying on the generalists that made the impossible possible in the early days, to specialists who are brilliant in their narrow field but struggle to connect their expertise beyond their function. Both the generalists and specialists end up frustrated
Thanks Celia!
Exactly right, but I see the tide shifting. The case for generalists has never been stronger in my opinion.
Brillaint breakdown of why so many roles feel hollow. The manufactured necessity category really got me thinking about how organizations justify keeping certain processes alive long after they've stopped serving anyone. Had a stint at a place where we tracked things just becuase thats how it was always done. Nobody could explain why anymore but everyone kept doing it.
Thanks!
I've honestly heard so many stories, it's shocking how many extraordinarily talented people are working in jobs where nobody would know if they weren't there.
A very precise zoom-in on meaninglessness. I like how you put it "meaning is not binary". Also how you put a weightage to it and how we stay for that smaller percentage that feels meaningful despite the overall dissatisfaction. At the end of the day, the question we should be asking ourselves comes down to our value system. I think I read this at the perfect timing because I happened to have just written a piece about how meaning and values can change over time.
Thanks! Nice, send a link through I'd love to give it a read.
This is so helpful, THANK YOU. Definitely helps me understand my own career confusion better, especially realising that what I've been grappling with is a lot of Interchangeability with a chaser of Lack of Authorship. This gives me a great lense through which to filter my next roles/career moves.
I'm glad it was helpful.
Best of luck on your next move!
Oh it'd be an honor to get your feedback🙏🏻https://open.substack.com/pub/theantigrindmanifesto/p/life-under-renovation?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=71wjkq
Much of strategy consulting is this. I sat in so many board rooms playing intellectual ping pong over pretty PowerPoint slides only for no decisions to be made and status quo continued.
Must be SO frustrating!
"The bullshit is marbled through the substance..." I knew this was worth reading after that description :)
Hahah thanks!
Very true! Keep up the good work improving troop morale in the meantime 🫡
Will do!