Reflection

“I had chosen to use my work as a reflection of my values”

Sidney Poitier


Whether we realise it or not, the work we decide to do and the way we later feel about it went, is deeply influenced by our values.

So I have been struggling to pin down a central question for my PhD. All along I have known I wanted to explore values and that storytelling is both something I love and a medium through which I have witnessed folk share their ideas about what really matters to them.

Even that – values and stories - was not enough.

Sometimes the hardest thing is to take your own advice but that is what I have done. I have returned to and reflected upon my values and (I think) finally put my finger on something.


Yes I want to uncover new knowledge, yes I want to do something that simplifies complex processes and yes I want to undertake something that can bring others and myself enjoyment but even the sum of all those things is not enough.

In my last post I explored the idea of purpose and to get closer to the purpose of me undertaking and publishing research I lifted my eyes from the values themselves and looked at the cluster in which they sit.

Values are hierarchical (so they sit in rank order of importance) and are arranged in clusters depending on the object of their attention. So for example values to do with access to resources such as money and protection from danger all sit in the “Security” cluster. My Discovery/Insight, Creativity, Research/Original, Simplicity/Play values all sit in Emerging Order.

Emerging Order is convinced that it is possible for organisations to be more humane in their practices. That work can, and should be, more than a transaction of labour for wages. That people show up willing, given half a chance, to do their best and devote their skills and talents to accomplishing something worthwhile.

So what does that mean for me? It means that the question I seek to answer has to have, at it's beating heart, capacity to change the shape of the world of work into something more human-kind.

That feels like “purpose” to me…….

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