Fingerprint Work
What would the world be like if work was as unique as each of us?
(If you are wondering why this is coming from Substack - I’ve amalgamated my newsletter list and my Substack for ease. You can still read it in browser as normal and reply to send me an email or you can also read and listen to it on the excellent Substack app.)
Sustainability is a word I've been discussing a lot this week. For so many it has become synonymous with the climate change movement but it is also deeply meaningful for small business owners. The usage of the word ‘sustainability’ is relatively recent - telling us a lot about how the world has evolved:
It is the word we didn't know we needed when we started our business. Many of us were christened in the fire of ‘girlboss’ and hustle culture. We aspired to the lofty heights of leaning in and having it all. Thankfully, much of that nonsense is being unmasked as we grapple with the often devastating consequences of burnout as a result of taking once size fits all advice that just doesn’t fit.
On the other side of the equation, age has thought me that I am not looking for “The Four Hour Work Week”, despite that books outsized influence on my 20's. I love to work, I like a reasonably solid work schedule - it gives me boundaries, keeps me engaged and gives me deadlines to work to. Left to my own devices I tend to float off into space, dancing with unanswerable questions and infinite ideas, a beautiful place to visit but not a place to stay for very long.
We want work that enables us to maintain a rate or level of energy that feels sustainable. This rate is more variable for women as our energy levels fluctuate with our natural rhythms and the rhythms of our dependents. It is hard to give 100% when your womb is shedding its lining (Too graphic for you? Try living it every month.) and you have been up all night juggling Calpol, changing sheets, mopping brows and administering desperately needed cuddles. All you can manage is an appearance in body but that will make your boss happier than if you took the time you needed to recover.
Here is a definition of sustainability that is perfect to highlight why work sustainability is vitally important “Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain good ecological balance” is a definition of sustainability and it is perfect to highlight why work sustainability is vitally important. We are simply organisms relating to each other and to our physical surroundings. Work that leads to chronic stress creates decay in our lives, this decay may not be visible at first glance but over time, its effects build up turning us into someone we no longer recognise.
Why the world feels like it is burning
Perhaps this is why so much in the world feels wrong right now - so few people recognise themselves in the people they have either become or are forced to be. Objectively, things are better, we are living in better times. All baselines figures prove this (read Factfulness or Humankind). The vast majority of the world’s population work in “Bullshit Jobs” and are Invisible Minds lost to the drudgery of keeping the lights on. For all that we have gained materially, we have lost exponentially more in terms of true connection, contentment and autonomy.
The employment statistics may keep economists happy but very few people are working sustainably. How many people do you know who seem contented in their work, career or lives? I can’t say I know anyone who fits this description right now. Everyone is hustling while nurturing a dream, keeping it safe in their clutches, trying to protect it from the ravages of the capitalist reality we live. How can an artisan support their family sustainably when property has become an asset class instead of a basic necessity? Choosing to have one parent at home to raise your kids is considered a luxury. I don’t understand how a society can say it values children, yet doesn’t support their nurturing in any meaningful way. In Ireland, where we are lucky to have some social supports, childcare is subsidised but it is worth noting that only people not related to the child are economically supported to raise them. I am thrilled that childcare is subsidised helping parents who choose to work but parents who choose to stay at home, whether part time or full time, should should also be supported.
The self-employed must work sustainably… right?
So what of the self employed - surely we see higher levels of sustainability amongst the cohort who have autonomy over their own work? It turns out that most of us just work for a different boss - lets collectively call them the attention overlords. They don’t pay us any wages but we have to churn out content of significant quantity, quality and duration to entice them not to penalise us. They use this content to increase the value of their own business while charging us to access any audience we generate and only redistributing the spoils to wealthy shareholders, not the creators.
We hustle to wear all of the hats, accountant, marketer, administrator, project manager, strategist… all before we actually do the work of doing our work.
Western society has deified the ‘the self-made’ entrepreneur. As with a lot of modern thinking, this view falls prey to black and white thinking. You are either an entrepreneur or you are not. There is no room for the in-between or alternative interpretations of self employment.
Fingerprint Work
I recently had a client who was bashful telling me that she did not want to give up her nursing job, she enjoyed it but only for three days a week - any more and she resented it. They needed additional income so she was considering working two days in an office job when we met. Instead we worked on turning her private dream of soap making into sustainable side project that she could do around and with her kids from home.
She might not have taken this step without support, we need more cheerleaders for creative, alternative and sustainable solutions to help balance work. Most of us want to work but feeling like we have to hitch our trailer to the end of a this runaway train strips us of choice and of our sense of self. Instead of choosing to work three days full of enthusiasm we drag ourselves through five days to keep the rent or mortgage paid despite hating our work, feeling burnt out and generally making the world less bearable for ourselves, our families and our communities.
We know that traditional 9-5 thinking is a poor use of the extraordinary NI (natural intelligence) stored inside every single beautiful brain on this planet. We know each of these brains has its own unique needs, each body, each family, each community. A unique brain needs unique work. We have the technology and the knowledge to completely change how we work, there is more than enough wealth in the world to sustain us all so what we need now are more people focused on the opportunity of creating “fingerprint work” - work that matches what is needed with what is uniquely suited to each person.
What if encouraging people to follow their intuition around work was the key to higher levels of productivity, fulfilment, creativity and connection. Of course it is. Sustainability is the key to creating a liveable future regardless of whether you are a plant or a person.
We need less people working on how to become the next billionaire and more people working on how to bring out the best in each other. Where is the app for that?
📚 Reading: Humankind: A Hopeful History - Rutger Bergman
Having been wiped out with the flu over the past week, I am still reading and loving Humankind. For those not on my old newsletter list here was my take from half way through: It is like balm for the soul during these turbulent times. The premise is that people are not inherently Machiavellian independent of environment. What was been most fascinating is the examination of the famous psychological studies and stories that fuel the global obsession with the belief in survival of the fittest. Highly recommended so far.
🤗 Experiencing: A Summer Flu
Who knows what season it is - all I know is we’ve all been knocked out, it’s not Covid (we’ve tested, not denied) and we’ve had to buy stocks in Calpol again. Summer my arse - I think that’s actually the technical term for summer here in Ireland 😂.
📺 Watching: The ‘Modern Day Slaves” of the AI Tech World - Real Stories
Engaging documentary uncovering the lives of the gig workers tasked with teaching AI how to curate and moderate content online. The best comment “The threat is not AI, it’s how humans treat other humans” Watch on YouTube:
💡 Inspiring: Short Video on Justice on Instagram
✨ Whats New
It has been an exciting week for me at work - I’m finishing up two new co-creation websites with two gorgeous clients so I’m excited to show those off to you shortly. However, I’ve also started talking with my first few interviewee’s for the new docuseries I am creating on other Merchants of Chaos - people who are doing things their own way, the misfits creating a better world, one idea at a time. The conversations with them are like speaking the same language, sustainability, connection, social action. Exciting times 😁!
👋 Done - thats all folks
Y’all rock 🤘 - thank you so much for your time and attention and see you next week 🎉
Orla
