Make.It.Meaningful – A Values-Based Approach to Business
I have been on a bit of a travel splurge these last couple of weeks, partly business, partly pleasure, and just returned back to the Emerald Isle Monday night.
This past weekend, I attended a rather alternative business conference in Rome with the theme: “Make.It.Meaningful”. While surrounded by the ancient ruins of Rome, this conference focused its attention on what we can do in our workplaces on a daily basis to contribute to building a new global civilisation. The goal of ‘make it meaningful’ in a sense, is for us all to wake up one day and think “Thank God it’s Monday, I’m going to make this week meaningful!”or “I get to make my contribution to building a foundation of values in my workplace to help establish a sustainable, ever-advancing civilisation”. Pie in the sky goal? Yes, the cynic in all of us would say that this goal is hopelessly idealistic and unattainable. It’s almost like much of society (especially in Europe) has been conditioned to view work as being hard and unpleasant, and that if you are enjoying it, there must be something wrong. We have also been conditioned by materialism to seek instant gratification in everything we do, so if it’s going to take too much time and effort to attain a certain goal we will just sweep it aside and continue complaining basically.
Changing our whole attitude to work as a society is not going to be an easy task, nor is it going to be something that we can accomplish in a week, a month, or even a year… So, how do we go about climbing this Mount Everest of a task? How do we start breaking down this very big picture? Well, this is where the philosophy of small steps comes in. One doesn’t just wake up one morning and decide that they are going to hop on a plane, fly to Nepal, and climb Mount Everest. There is a whole set of steps to follow before you even reach the foot of Mount Everest. Here are the small steps that I am going to take in the coming months to apply a values-based approach in my work:
- Continue to embed a values-based approach in my work and life in general. Ensure that I am applying truthfulness, honesty, humility, compassion, to name but a few values, in all my daily interactions with people.
- Find at least one other like-minded person in my line of work (I am self-employed, so the formula is a little different to folks who are employed) and start a discourse with them about how we can better apply our values in the workplace.
- Expand this little circle of friends/colleagues/associates and reflect on the efforts we have made to apply this values based approach in our work.
- Well, let’s keep it simple for now, and give it the space to take on its own shape! The key is to “act” and “reflect” on a regular basis to ensure progress.
If you have any other suggestions on baby steps I can take in the coming weeks, please comment below. Also, if you happen to live in Northern Ireland and would like to accompany me on this trek, please let me know.
Category: Personal Blog
