working with meaning
Hugh MacLeod of the insightful gapingvoid recently posted about the emergent “Creative Age.” In this new era, he posits, we place a premium on finding meaning in our professional and personal lives. Indeed, we’ve awakened to a view of work as inseparable from “real life.” So, we seek jobs that are fun, that sing to us and that honor our uniqueness. When we find our own “unique door,” MacLeod continues, it will “resonate. Not just with us, but with everybody it comes in contact with. The door will [be] useful and productive. Alive and kicking. It’ll create wealth and laughter and joy.” I think he is right on. So many lawyers I meet are desperately searching for this kind of meaning in their work. They’re on the hunt for a way of practicing law that’s uplifting and financially rewarding. Law firms that want to survive and thrive in this Creative Age will have to heed the call and engage their lawyers in a candid conversation about creating a genuine culture of fun and meaning in the workplace.
