Some of the happiest people I know are people who can see the relationships behind their work. They don’t take each task so literally, and they instead consider what message they are trying to convey in life for themselves and others. Below are examples I’ve seen on this (the first two are paraphrases).
Craftsman Curing Meat — “I don’t see myself as preparing meat and wine. The food is a means to an end for human relationships and connection.”
Explanation: People do not go out to fine dining just to eat. They go for the experience, relaxation, culinary culture, atmosphere, and friendships. Even though this man is quite literally dealing with raw pounds of meat all day, his perception is one fueled by a heartfelt desire to give people a wholesome experience.
Data Science YouTuber — “How good you are does not depend on the specific technologies you use. These skills are just part of the process to becoming the ultimate problem solver.”
Explanation: A stellar data scientist is committed to the process and pragmatic results that good analysis can provide. They don’t have to show off their understanding of algorithms. Data science as just one tool of many in their toolkit.
Balloonist and Solar Adventurer, Bertrand Piccard — “Ballooning is a beautiful metaphor…when people speak about pioneering spirit, very often they believe that pioneers are the ones who have new ideas. It’s not true. The pioneers are not the ones who have new ideas, because new ideas are so easy to have. We just close our eyes for a minute, and we all come back with a lot of new ideas.
“No, the pioneer is the one who allows himself to throw overboard a lot of ballast. Habits, certainties, convictions, exclamation marks, paradigms, dogmas. And when we are able to do that, what happens? Life is not anymore just one line going in one direction in one dimension. No. Life is going to be made out of all the possible lines that go in all the possible directions in three dimensions.
“A pioneering spirit will be each time we allow ourselves to explore this vertical axis. Of course not just like the atmosphere in the balloon, but in life itself.”
Explanation: This task calls out to a certain attitude. He likes the open-mindedness it brings out of him. He later said that a plane is not simply a sheet of metal, but a sense of freedom.
There are two big benefits for people who see the context and essence behind their work, rather than only accepting the face-value of the task.
Meaning
I truly believe in seeing the interconnection of your action. It not only grants you a wider world view, but also a sense of purpose. Life is dreary until you connect the dots.
Every job gets grueling at some point. The craftsman faces a lot of manual work, the data scientist has to painstakingly clean data, and the adventurer suffers from exhaustion. The way to overcome routine hurdles is to attach yourself to the bigger picture.
Does thinking this way diminish the size of your work? Not so. Whether it’s creating human experiences, enhancing problem-solving skills, or embodying a pioneering spirit, these individuals know their contribution is simply a drop in the bucket. Yet they do not anguish that the drop is so small. They instead celebrate at the size of the bucket — of all the experiences, solutions, and freedoms life affords.
The practical results matter, but it should not always take direct aim to get there. Seeing your job as an “art” makes it easier to excel in it.
Transferable Skill
When your job potentially gets taken over by AI, there is a transportable “gist” of your work that can still be applied elsewhere. Whether you cultivate relationships, solve problems, or play the maverick, the need for these timeless skills will tend to remain.
When you love the spirit of your work over the literal work itself, you know it is deeply human.
I’ve written a poem, Between the Lines:
Write beyond words
Program beyond code
Design beyond sight
Love beyond distance
Speak beyond sound.
