The Meaning of Work

“At its most fulfilling, work is creative; inspiration precedes perspiration and process is the child of vision.”

Companies, like individuals, should have goals that are built upon a set of well defined principles that help chart a clear path for successful action. Action always involves risk, but risk can be mitigated if the principles are right.

Furthermore, companies are often designed around groups or teams of people who must learn to work together for a common purpose. If you have played on a successful sports team, you know that the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. Positive results are not just a product of chance, and successful work is so much more than meeting deadlines and accomplishing tasks. Despite what you might have heard, success is a team sport. Sure there are stars; our entertainment culture depends on them, but in the everyday world of work, interdependence is the prevailing reality.

Thus process cannot be a goal; it must be subordinated to vision. Working hard may be admirable, but working smart must come first. And a job can be reduced to something dreary and routine, but creativity is often the trademark of the best and the brightest workers. The miracle behind sustained success is, in fact, vision, inspiration and creativity working together towards achieving well defined and sustainable goals.