The Song of Significance

How much better would our work be if we could simply talk about the work without hesitation? What if the work we did made things better?

is inconvenient. It was inconvenient for an industrialist to embrace the internet in 1998, for a nonprofit to shift gears and become sustainable, and for a successful corporation to embrace significance. It’s rare that it happens quickly or easily, which is precisely why these changes are revolutionary.

Yes, we need to make a living. But how do we make a life?

Here are some questions we can begin with, every time we set out to do our work together. And yes, they’re worth asking out loud, worth answering in writing, and worth committing to the answers: What’s the specific change this team is going to make? What’s my personal role in making that change happen? What do I need to learn to support or lead thi

when we look at stock market valuation or profitability, the answer is the same: growth and long-term profit no longer come from relentless industrialism. And organizations that achieve extraordinary customer service rankings find a way to embrace humanity as well.

care enough to build the best job you ever had,

Real value is no longer created by traditional measures of productivity. It’s created by personal interactions, innovation, creative solutions, resilience, and the power of speed.

The people you hire to follow instructions are rarely the people who will help you build something of innovation and substance.

Like most important words, translating a concept like the Japanese term kokoro is difficult. It means heart, spirit, mind, and self. It’s the inner and outer expression of who we are and what we’re capable of. Even if you don’t speak Japanese, the word is likely to resonate. It’s an expression of our personhood, the dignity and connection we seek i