The rat race. The fast track. The old grind. The same ol' same ol'--whatever you call it, a lot of people are looking for a way out. Many today have a sense that their lives are not their own, that they have few choices and little power over their own destinies. They sense their lives getting away from them, moving at a frantic pace they feel powerless to control. They feel trapped in the rat race--forcing themselves, day after day, to do work they find neither meaningful nor fulfilling.
We have been told that the rat race is the road to success. Yet many today have an idea of success different from those of previous generations. For these people, success is not defined exclusively in economic terms but includes the opportunity to express their innate talents and abilities, to be creatively engaged (not simply to show up), to feel as though they are making a meaningful difference, and to integrate their spiritual values with the everyday business of working and making a living. Moreover, today there is a growing realization that an unhappy experience at work has profound psychological and social costs....
A growing number of people are expecting to find a place for their heart and soul in their work, a place to express their unique talents and abilities. They want a greater sense of joy and meaning in their work. While growing rapidly, this group is, to be sure, still a minority of workers. Yet all great social movements begin with minorities, courageous pioneers who blaze trails that the less adventurous are later able to tread....
The redefinition of work will be one of the great tests of human creativity in the 21st century. It has been estimated that 75 percent of all jobs involve the kind of repetitive functions that can be replaced by computers or machines. In the economically developed nations, new technologies and the exportation of jobs to the "developing nations" have meant the elimination of millions of jobs. In the Third World, the introduction of large-scale farming has pushed and will likely continue to push billions into the cities, where there are too few jobs and inadequate infrastructure and housing to absorb them humanely.
Unless we are to face global unemployment on a truly horrific scale or the prospect of a virtual slave class of low-paid workers, new kinds of work must be created. This new work will not be created by the government, but neither will it come from the private sector, if we mean by that the massive global corporations. It will be created, if at all, by individuals. It will be born of their inspirations, compassion and natural talents. The problem is not so much one of "putting people to work" as it is of empowering them to work--unleashing and not repressing their innate creative powers.
Laurence Boldt is a writer and career consultant.