Making Meaning From Work: Philosophies for Change

Recently I was challenged about writing more for The Spark Mill blog.  I’ll be honest, blog writing is not my jam.  Some of it is seeing the passion of my co-workers and thinking – who wants to follow that?!  Another part of me asks, “does the blogosphere need more noise” (or one more middle-aged white dude's voice)?  Nobody and No, are the correct responses to those two questions. 

However, I love a good challenge, and so I thought I would start out writing what I know.  And what do I know? I know what motivates me to do this work.  It's a phrase from Man's Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl’s autobiographic work from his time in a Nazi concentration camp.  Frankl uses the phrase

“making meaning from experience.”

In strategic planning and acceleration, we help organizations make meaning of their experience and let that guide their future.  We are not the type of consultants that come in and tell you what to do.  Instead, we come in and listen – to the experience and wisdom of the staff, the clients, the stakeholders, the external context.  We capture that experience, and we hold it up for the organization to see and walk with them to make meaning from that experience.

 The beauty of this process is that the final plan is never our plan.  Instead, it's the organization's plan – we just provided the method and space for them to be able to make meaning from their experience.

Seeing organizations go through this process and chart a path forward, having made meaning from their experience motivates me.  

What motivates you to do your work?