With the overwhelming pace of technological change and the complexity and divisiveness of changes in society, people may increasingly find themselves not only overwhelmed, but less than inspired in their daily work. As changes at our colleges accelerate in the midst of intensifying external pressures, it can be natural to feel anxious about all that is not within our immediate control regardless of our job or position. An ever-changing context like this increases the need for a tether to provide some level of consistency and emotional security as we go about our work.
The extent to which people can link their j-o-b to a higher purpose can serve as that tether in all the disruption. I always come back to the parable of the person in 16th-century Europe who came upon three workers doing the same job and asked them what they were doing. The first worker said, “I’m laying brick.” The second worker said, “I’m building a wall.” The third worker said, “I’m creating a cathedral.” They were all doing the exact same work but had three very different views of how they were approaching that work, with the last one having a deeper sense of why they were doing what they were doing.
Having a sense of why jobs exist and how work gets done can serve as intrinsic motivation and inspire work/life harmony for each of us. When we’re motivated and inspired in our work it doesn’t seem like work, and the time seems to pass quickly. When motivation and inspiration are absent, it’s the exact opposite and we’re not likely to do our best work while our levels of stress, frustration, and unhappiness increase.
We are fortunate to work in a community college where our collective efforts have the power to transform the lives of our students and better our community in countless ways. If we apply the “laying brick/cathedral” parable to work here at the College, it could be said for any of the following:
- I’m teaching my classes/I’m helping my students learn/I’m transforming lives by challenging and supporting them to learn and grow to become all they hope to be.
- I’m taking care of the grounds or buildings/I’m making the campus look good/I’m transforming lives by creating a beautiful learning environment.
- I’m doing the task in front of me/I’m helping others/I’m transforming lives by helping the College serve students a little better every day.
Author and speaker Simon Sinek offers a similar three-level framework for organizations in his book, Start with Why. He talks about the golden circle of organizations thinking about what they do, how they do it, and why they do it. The most successful organizations flip this model and think first about why, then about how and what they do. For colleges, it’s easy to think of our vision statement as our why; core values as our how; and mission statement as our what. Thinking in this way adds an emotional element to the work and subsequently increases engagement, motivation, focus, and performance for the entire organization.
Connecting to a higher purpose and having a shared reason for why we do our individual work can create a collective energy and shape our overall organizational culture in positive ways. Having a common why is the fundamental building block to an aligned, healthy, and high-performing organization. It’s not easy and takes constant reinforcement, but the more we can all hone in on why we each do what we do — and the extent to which we share the same why — the better we can continue to make this a special place to work, learn, and grow as members of the MVCC community.
Ideas shared in this post are informed by my book, Competing on Culture: Driving Change in Community Colleges. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me directly at presblog@mvcc.edu.
