Defining What Good Work Means To You
Written by Nurul Nabilah, YouthTech Trainee
What does ‘good work’ mean to you?
For some, good work means a high-paying job. For others, it can mean a workplace or job scope which sparks joy in them. Point is, it can mean different things to different people. In this article, we walk you through a few things to consider in coming up with your own definition of good work!
Spoiler Alert: No, it is not the elusive search for Ikigai!
One popular idea when it comes to good work, is the concept of finding one’s ikigai. If you are not familiar with Ikigai, it is a Japanese life philosophy that involves, among other things, fulfilling different roles and pursuing your ultimate goal in life. Therefore, finding one’s Ikigai is really about being able to decide for themselves the values that matter most to them when it comes to work.
Yet, outside of Japan, many misunderstand the concept of Ikigai. It is perceived to be a means of finding the one thing that fits all four criteria of what would make for the ultimate dream job, one that is simultaneously i) something I love, ii) something I am good at, iii) something the world needs and iv) something that pays.
At Bold, rather than being stuck looking for the elusive one thing, we prefer to inject nuances that help us to create more options and possibilities. We believe that using a mixed concept can get one out of the idea of there being only one outcome . Due to this, we view good work as a mix of three components - impact, expression, and recognition. Inspired by a graphic tool called ‘Maker Mix Worksheet’ from Bill Burnett and Dave Evans’ book Designing Your Work Life, we loved the idea of creating our own mix. At any point in our lives, we might have a different mix of how much of each component we want in our work. This mix is not static, and it is personalised in the sense that we determine the mix that we are looking for.
Note: In the ‘Maker Mix Worksheet’, the premise is that there are three aspects to the economy that we produce outputs and get paid for - impact in the making-a-difference economy, expression in the creative economy, and money in the market economy. We are then asked to adjust the sliders in the graphic tool based on the maker outputs that we seek. The end result helps us determine how much of each component we need at this point in time.
The question is, how does one decide on the Maker Mix for themselves? Read on for the steps!
First off, it would be great to start by giving yourself permission to own your work mix. This may not be easy, especially when what matters to you, may not be the same as what matters to your social circle, your friends, or even family.
We know of Design Your Life participants whose life plans came unstuck, just by embracing their own good work mix. One started to embrace her need for “expression” as an emcee and presenter, something that she had been unable to recognise when “impact” was the currency of choice among her friends and mentors. One opened up to the possibility of pursuing accountancy as an “expression” of her love of numbers, when she’d always been brought up to think of social work as the ultimate job that creates “impact”. Another switched to a design course in the nick of time, having decided that her need for “expression” outweighed her need for “recognition” in the form of a respectable job and high pay in computer science.
As such, you need to be clear about what you want to achieve out of your work, or in what terms you need to get paid for - is it impact, expression or recognition? Unless you allow yourself to open up to the possibilities that matter to you, you may stay stuck due to blindspots that loom large in your mind.
Next, you need to define what each component means to you at the moment. A word such as ‘impact’ can be rather all-encompassing and vague, and what it means for one person may not be what it means to another. You will find it hard to get moving on terms that are unclear.
Thus, do let us walk you through the three terms in turn, as you work out what each of them means to you.
Impact
In Ikigai, impact is what is needed, whereas at Bold at Work, we define impact as contributing to something greater.
When talking about making an impact at work, I turn to Aaron Hurst’s book titled The Purpose Economy: How Your Desire for Impact, Personal Growth and Community Is Changing the World. In it, he predicted that in the next economical era, purpose would be the next big thing behind one’s motivation to move forward, be it in their personal or professional lives. It touched on the shift in which working professionals would be driven to make contributions in order for them to achieve a sense of purpose.
Hurst interpreted that there are three elevations of impact. The first elevation would be direct to oneself, in which one deems it meaningful when they are able to witness how their work directly impacts other people. The second elevation, the organisational level, occurs when they bring teams together and are able to build a more sustainable experience or future in their workplace. The third elevation takes place at the societal level. What this means is that one finds it meaningful when they bring up an idea or proposal whereby their organisation can benefit from it. Additionally, meaning can be found at this elevation in the sense that what they have to offer can give a leading advantage to their organisation in the economic world.
This explains why, for some of us who work at Bold, we find meaning through the individual connections and impact that we make in the course of facilitating events and trainings. For the others, it is growing the systems and processes that build the organisation, that most energises and excites them. We each connect to impact in different ways, and this helps to guide us in the tasks we choose to focus our energies on, in the course of our work.
Expression
We liken expression to the Ikigai circles of “what one loves to do” and/or “what they are good at”. In a way, living out our strengths, getting to do what we enjoy and do well, is the fullest expression of who we are and our potential.
For this, I draw on the human interest subject in one of my previous articles, Natasha. Years of chasing after her dream job at a particular organisation led to the realisation that it was ultimately not fulfilling. She had appreciated the recognition it accorded as a corporate job in a domain that she loved, but she did not expect that there would not be the room for expression that she had hoped for. She was skilled in creating content and leveraging on the vast platform of social media, and had high hopes that she would be able to expand those skills further under the guidance of that organisation. Due to this, she started dreading going to work when she realised that she was not able to express her creative energies through her work. Any suggestions that she had were not entertained. It came to a point when she chose to leave, having concluded that her dream job was not what she had imagined it to be.
However, expression does not only apply to the ability to exercise one’s creativity in the workplace. In fact, expression is also about doing what one finds personally fulfilling. It can also refer to the ability to express one’s thoughts and opinions freely. In other words, one can find meaning when their voice is heard and not simply disregarded. They need not fear being belittled for expressing themselves in the workplace, even amongst higher-level employees.
Recognition
This brings me to the third component - recognition, or rather, what pays, as seen from the Ikigai perspective. For this article, I will focus more on the meaning of recognition in terms of the benefits one gains for themselves, be it in tangible or less tangible forms.
In the workplace, gaining recognition for the work that one puts in can be what makes for ‘good work’ for an employee. In its tangible forms, we see it coming in the form of pay and rewards or future opportunities on the job market. Its less tangible cousins might take the form of affirmation and praise, or prestige and reputation.
Another thing to consider might be whose recognition matters to you. Some view recognition as the praise and affirmation that they receive for their work, from their bosses. Some might appreciate the recognition of their mastery and skills from respected industry peers or colleagues. For others, what they think of their own work might matter most.
With the definitions out of the way, you can now work on determining the mix that works for you at this moment. At different life stages, this could look very different. One who is fresh out of school with less familial obligations might have a very different good work mix than later on in life when he or she has more obligations to take care of. Remember, we might each also have different options depending on our circumstances.
Now that you know your desired good work mix, you might know which component you need to dial up on! Thus, the step of listing ways to achieve your good work mix comes in here. For example, for impact, you can conduct a mini survey to find out others’ reception to a project that you built. For expression, you can challenge yourself to map your energy and engagement levels over the course of a work day, and determine to spend more time on the tasks that are life-giving to you. As for recognition, a way for you to achieve it would be ticking off the tasks that you have completed, or asking for feedback from someone whose view matters to you.
To sum it all up, everyone has their own interpretation of good work. We hope that with these 4 steps, you can work your way to a more ideal mix that works for you!
#BeBoldAtWork is a Design Your Workplace series that seeks to cover practical tips, stories and tools that would serve employees and employers to better design how you choose to think, feel and show up in workplaces so as to improve the performances of not only your organisations but also the lives of the people you work with.
If you would like for us to enter your workplaces to provide talks and engagements on workplace wellbeing & career resilience, drop us a note at hello@boldatwork.sg!