The Meaning and Purpose of Work

Two crises of the 21st C, the 9/11 attacks and COVID-19 pandemic, led generations to prioritize the meaning and purpose of work. Simultaneously, social and environmental crises are threatening and technology is advancing. This book considers what these forces mean for whether work might give meaning and purpose to our lives or take it away.

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Two seminal crises of the early 21st century – the 9/11 terrorist attacks and COVID-19 pandemic – have led emerging generations of workers to prioritize the meaning and purpose of work. At the same time, other social and environmental crises are threatening, capitalism is evolving, and technology is advancing. In this book, a philosopher and organizational psychologist who together research meaningful work consider what these forces mean for whether work might give meaning and purpose to our lives or take it away.

The authors introduce key concepts – meaning, purpose, and work, among others – and consider how they show up in individuals’ experience of work, what role organizations play in cultivating them, and the responsibilities of markets and states to the individuals and organizations working within them. Each chapter includes questions and prompts for review and reflection for students and workers who read the book. The final chapter concludes by introducing an original “6 P” framework for making sense of the functional and moral purpose of work among individuals, organizations, and systems: to pursue and perform, provide and produce, and price and protect work.

Readers will emerge with an understanding of the meaning of meaning as well as a practical appreciation for the role of meaning in their own work, the managerial responsibilities they may have for serving the purpose of the organization they work for, and the societal challenges that make the quest for meaningful work a timely imperative