The Morning My Wife Failed to Recognise Me

 I was having a relaxed breakfast with my wife, listening to an ABC National Radio show on the topic "Well-Being at Work". The host, Tegan Taylor, was interviewing a psychologist on a range of issues, including the importance of finding meaning in one's job.

As I grumbled to Ann about how they were missing the main point, they announced, “We are now opening up the phone lines, so give us a call if you’d like to share your experience of finding meaning in your work”.

10 seconds later I was on

I’d finished my porridge, so I grabbed my phone, went into another room, and called. A friendly young man answered and he asked me a few questions. He said, “That sounds excellent, please stay on the line”, and 10 seconds later, I was talking to Tegan on live National radio. “We have Greg on the line. So Greg, tell us your thoughts on finding meaning at work.”

They had been discussing the importance of organisations making workplaces meaningful and psychologically healthy for their employees. My point was that, rather than relying on our bosses and workplaces to sell us on the meaning of our work, we all need to take some personal responsibility for finding the inherent meaning in what we do.

I went on to say that every task has inherent meaning if we focus our minds on what we’re doing and strive to do it well. Also, that we regularly interact with others and can have a positive impact on them and ourselves by showing a little patience or kindness.

Tegan thanked me for my comments, and I hung up and went back into the kitchen, where I could hear her and the psychologist on the radio discussing some of the points I had made.

I thought she was joking

Ann, who was washing the porridge pot at the sink, looked up and said, “You just missed a guy calling in that sounded a bit like you.”

I thought she was joking, but then I realised she didn’t twig it was me. “Did he say anything good?” I asked innocently. “Yes, he made some good points”, she casually responded. (I have to say, this was big because Ann is prudent when it comes to praising her husband.) When I told her it was actually me, we both had a good laugh.

I realise that, as an Organisational Psychologist, I am in a privileged position, doing work that positively impacts people and organisations. However, I have also done many other things, and I take a particular delight in observing how people in all walks of life go about their daily work.

It’s wonderful to see those beautiful souls smiling and finding joy in tasks that others may regard as mundane. Whether it’s the person stacking shelves at the local supermarket, trimming the edges of a nature strip, or taking coffee orders in a meeting.

Beware of “Why Washing”

One aspect of my work is delivering presentations at conferences. While I derive a lot of satisfaction from sharing useful ideas in an engaging manner, I get just as much meaning from thinking about how I can help the individuals behind the scenes. It might be the person who hired me, so they will be praised for making a good choice, or the person who is setting out the tables and chairs, so they can feel proud of making the room look great.

The truth is, “why washing” has become an industry, where highly paid executives and consultants sit around discussing how they can position their organisations as making a good and meaningful contribution to society, so employees will feel better about working there.

Drawing people’s attention to how your business impacts the community in a positive way is, of course, a smart thing to do. However, we should never forget that each person is to a large degree responsible for their own happiness, and we all have a choice in how we think about our work, how we treat the person in front of us, and the care we put into our daily tasks.

A final thought

As we head toward the end of the year, a reminder about why we shouldn’t get too obsessed with the benefits of a holiday break. Professor Sabine Sonnentag, an expert in Life Balance research, found in an important study that holidays do not significantly impact our sense of life balance, as we return to our baseline stress levels within two weeks of returning to work. (See Why Holidays are for Wimps.)

What is more important is being sensible in how we structure our daily routines and build in daily or weekly recovery periods, doing activities that we enjoy and actively engage us.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take holidays, as they’re great for hanging out with the family and broadening our minds. Just don’t expect a holiday to solve your existential work problems. For that, we may need to revisit how we approach our daily tasks and our interactions with others.