(Due to the holiday on Monday and the time-sensitive info here, I thought I’d post this a few days early. I hope you’ll join us for the important discussion on July 13.)
Just beyond our sight, bubbling beneath the waves and simmering behind the scenes, there is a silent revolution happening. This is not a movement of guns and knives, but of goodness and creativity. It is a complete “turn around” (i.e. “revolution”) in mindset — a new way to think about how work intersects with our lives.
Most of us spend more of our lives “at work” than we do with our families, relaxing on beaches, or anywhere else. This isn’t inherently a problem — good work is something humans need.
The problem is that the great majority of us don’t have “good work.” Instead, we exist somewhere on the continuum between abject hatred for our job and a mild ambivalence which allows us to stay just engaged enough to collect a paycheck. This is to say nothing about actually being able to LOVE what we do at work (currently, 77% of people working for companies are not passionate about what they do).
This tragic situation is a waste of our collective resources, a waste of our individual talents, and a waste of our lives. It cannot be allowed to continue.
We are the tribe of revolutionaries who will end the reign of miserable work.
The Work Revolution is a movement committed to fundamentally reinventing business to help everyone (and we do mean everyone) have an opportunity to enjoy life-giving, meaningful work.
As individuals, we are passionate about different components of this process (and this is how it must be, for the task at hand is rather large). We are leaders of companies, entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, and employees. We know that change happens faster when it comes from all directions.
Together, we are passionate about helping our businesses become more sustainable, more human, and more meaningful.
Every tribe has core values: those things which float like a conscience in the background and guide its decisions. Here, we call them virtues. Using this word reminds us that everything we do should be somehow pushing humanity in a positive direction. Our work must always be for the common good.
There are plenty of places for great idea exchange (this one comes to mind). But we are about ideas with clothes on – until our ideas start tangibly helping people, they aren’t realizing their potential. We’re the people who make cool sh*t happen.
We are interdisciplinary, holistic, and obsessed with letting people do more of what they’re good at. We deliberately seek out different perspectives because we know that we’ve all got blind spots. We’re the people who know that we don’t know everything.
All our decisions will be guided by these principles. (Full disclosure: this list is likely to grow and change as the movement evolves.)
You are a critical part of this campaign. I cannot fix this problem alone, and, frankly, neither can you. But together, WE can change the world.
And we will.
The short answer to the question of where you fit is: “wherever your strengths and passions intersect with the mission of the tribe.” We need you exactly in the place where you are most alive.
(If by chance you forgot our mission, it’s this: To fundamentally reinvent business so everyone can enjoy life-giving, meaningful work.)
By joining this group, you’re committing to two things: 1) adopting a habit of continual learning about how the world is changing and 2) doing something to push work in a more positive direction.
First, it gathers revolutionaries. There are way more of us out there than any one of us knows about. (You may have felt alone in your quest… I know I have — but we are not!) The Work Revolution will create ways to connect amazing, action-oriented people to each other, in the knowledge that we can do so much more together than we ever could alone. These connections will happen in a virtual space and (hopefully soon) in physical meetups.
Second, it helps support revolutionaries. The Work Revolution will spread new ideas, great frameworks and models, and helpful tools to the people who are doing great work to disrupt the status quo (that’d be you).
Third, it spreads the good word about a new way to work. There are many people out there who do not believe there is a better way to work, simply because they have never seen any evidence of it. The Work Revolution will tell the stories of work revolutionaries to the rest of the world.
If you haven’t already, please join the tribe. (I know this isn’t a very sexy entrance; we’ll have a better one soon!)
Also, I would like to invite you to join in an important discussion about where The Work Revolution is headed. We will be partnering with the phenomenal “Four Years. Go.” movement in a Collaborative Café event, which is a dialogue that happens virtually (call in with phone or Skype). The purpose of these events is to offer our collective intelligence and resources to support and refine a new idea/concept/movement. In this case, the idea is The Work Revolution, and we will be brainstorming ways to move it forward!
This call will happen on Wednesday, July 13 at 10:30am PDT / 1:30pm EDT. It’s open to any and all current or would-be revolutionaries.
It’s totally free, and you can click here to register.
I hope you’ll join us. ¡Viva la Revolution!
//
Looking At The Wrong Side Of An Airplane by Josh Allan Dykstra on September 18th, 2009
Why Excellence Is Not The Opposite Of Failure by Josh Allan Dykstra on July 29th, 2009
Ben Stein On The Military by Josh Allan Dykstra on July 21st, 2008
Copyright © 2005-2012 Josh Allan Dykstra
7 Comments
Megan
Hey Josh, I’m excited about your upcoming call! For those of us with less than flexible work situations that may be tied to a cubicle at that time – is there going to be a recording available so we can catch all the awesome idea generating and brain sharing?
02 Jul 2011 03:07 pm (@@energycareerist)
Ben Roberts
Because the call will make extensive use of breakout sessions, the recording leaves out a good part of the experience. So if there is ANY way you can join us, that is preferred. That said, we can make a recording available for the portions that do not involve small group dialogue.
Meanwhile, please help us get the conversation started right here with your comments.
04 Jul 2011 05:07 pm (@Twitter Name)
Phill
Great Article!
This is certainly next on the plate for humanity. We MUST thrive at work or we are prone to die.
08 Jul 2011 06:07 am (@Phill_cH)
Mary Liz Murphy
Hey Josh,
Way cool. We have been on a couple of 4Years Go Calls together.
Glad you are taking the lead on this. As a self empowerment expert and former corporate exec and consultant, I was almost ready to give up on the corporate marketplace, despite having a boatload to contribute to effect change….hmmm, you are helping me to reconsider!
Look forward to being on the call next week.
Mary Liz Murphy
08 Jul 2011 11:07 am (@Twitter Name)
Rob Wheeler
Hi Josh,
Well I like all that you say in the blog, but I am wondering where the real content is? I mean, what does a viable sustainably oriented business look like that provides meaning and opportunities to contribute to its employees. I know that a lot of work has been done on this; I think it would be good to list and link to some key information, articles, websites about people and organizations that are already focusing on this.
Thanks,
Rob
13 Jul 2011 09:07 am (@Twitter Name)
Josh Allan Dykstra
Absolutely, Rob -- great thoughts. What DOES a sustainable, human, meaningful, "new-world" organization look like? What do they do differently? Are they structured in new ways? Answering these questions in tangible, real-world ways is a huge part of what The Work Revolution movement will highlight and help catalyze.
Or, in other words, the "real content" is all forthcoming. Much of this will bloom via the conversations of Revolutionaries who join the tribe and contribute stories, etc. Also, the architects behind the scenes will do their best to provide great blueprints and structures for the group to flourish. We have a strong sense that there is a massive, currently mostly invisible, tribe of people who care deeply about these issues. We want to make them visible, to each other and to the world, and ignite them in a way that help fixes our current challenges.
It probably goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) that the only way we'll be able to accomplish something of this magnitude is by an enormous collective effort.
Hope you will be able to join our call today!
13 Jul 2011 10:07 am
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