The Meaningful Work Project is a series of surveys, interviews, focus groups, network analysis, and video narratives designed to explore the central questions of what fulfillment means, and how we can build our economic systems around both fulfillment and responsibility. This project dives into the questions of the things people do to make a living, satisfaction levels, and the intersections between income, work, needs, wants, and passion.
This collaborative ethnographic research project investigates the value of enjoyment as a component to a fulfilling work life. This involves measuring participants satisfaction with their current work, identifying patterns of un- or under- fulfillment that exist in different working populations, compiling data on working lives, and seeking solutions to transform our economic system to protect the right to fulfilling work.
Essentially, this study poses the question of what could occur when we redefine standards of living to not only include material possession and acquisition, but also to an equal value opportunity for every person to cultivate a purpose through working opportunity, if they should want it.
This is a different way to approach our economy than efforts which measure company strength, shareholder profit, or GDP. It's a more subtle exploration of worker enjoyment, in comparison to studies on local/international exploitation. The presupposition here is that given the time, access to opportunity, training, and guidance, individuals prefer to work for reasons that go beyond material acquisition—and would do so, even if they already received a living stipend based not on worthiness to a company, but to inherent dignity given to all people; that is, that most people don't want to live a life where they are either deprived or taking advantage of a corrupt and faulty system, but instead wish to live fulfilling lives that includes the pursuance of fulfilling work. The goal is to test that presupposition as well as to gather details on if participants are satisfied, at what level, and what particularly makes work satisfying--with the further aim of this study assisting the growth of evidence based solutions of ways to ensure all individuals can pursue personally meaningful or satisfying work in their lifetimes, and for this is in itself to be used as a metric by which we count our economy as successful.
This study will include a literature review on inequality, capitalism, socialism, employment stats, workplace practices, and the advancement of technological, cyborg, and artificial intelligence (AI) devices utilized for working tasks.
Videos, audio clips, and articles highlighting significant insights will be based on participant survey input, interviews, on-site observations, focus groups, and network analysis. Video and audio clips of interviews, focus groups, and on-site observations will be featured regularly on The Human Chat and may also be featured within The Conscious World magazine / e-book releases.
Participants from different industries (from the service industry to teaching to business) are welcome.
To participate, sign up in a later post or e-mail consciousworldzine@gmail.com. All confidentiality and release agreements with participants will be respected.