Mission and Meaning

“Get busy living, or get busy dying.” -Andy Dufresne of the movie Shawshank Redemption

The Nature of Meaning

Viktor Frankl said we are all born with genetic legacies along with the biological demands and malfunctions that implies. Likewise we are born to certain social and environmental influences. But we are free to take an active stand towards all these circumstances. We are free to choose how we will react to fateful events. And all kinds of good things happen when we do so[i].

The search for meaning is not a narcissistic endeavor any more than it is exclusively a metaphysical question.  Like cognition, an outward socially directed search spurs us.  It does not matter so much “what we expect from life, but what life expects from us[ii].“  We discover the meaning of life in the world rather than within the psyche.

After all, we are most definitely not an entirely closed system which can find its purpose and position if only we retreat into our minds and meditate long enough.  It is interesting to note here that all religions, even meditative ones, subscribe to this psychological construct.  Our relation to the world is not inwardly focused but gains its purpose and perspective externally.  We shall see this concept replicated with complex systems as well.

This idea makes intuitive sense.  To illustrate, there is no denying that the self (popularly called the ego) unchecked by external reality remains a selfish and immature force, especially one turned incessantly inward.  It metastasizes into a kind of malignant, self-absorbed narcissism.  Contrarily, the self unfulfilled by external reality remains embittered, unsure, suppressed and masochistic.

This seeming dichotomy is actually a holistic instance of our nature; the universally present evolutionary theme of competition; a balance of individuality and collaboration, with the attendant responsibility that both sides imply.  Clearly, the development of the individual as a maturation of the self involves apparently opposing or balancing of opposites that upon closer inspection are not dichotomies but integral parts of a whole. They are evolution at work in individual maturation.

Finding meaning in one’s life is a natural and necessary human activity. It is a balance of internal talent and interest on the one hand, and external landscape or opportunity on the other.  It must remain outwardly focused to improve and refine and learn.  It depends on feedback that is necessarily subject to the world in which we live.  The ant colony adapts quickly to its environment to fulfill its purpose.  The tiger does not suffer depression when it finds no antelope to eat.  She takes her cubs and moves.

When we work toward our life’s meaning we gain contentment and richness and peace of mind. It does us no good to directly strive for these things. It does us no good to chase happiness, potency, profitability, or success. These are byproducts of a meaningful existence.  They are not goals.

A meaningful life makes all things possible. We suffer and despair only devoid of meaning. With it we endure all else. Each organism must have a reason for its existence. Without it, we flounder. With it we find purpose and serenity. We strive for something beyond ourselves.

Call it survival. Call it a search for meaning. Call it a sense of belonging. Our sentience obscures the fact that every living organism has such a quest.  Every organism, sentient or not, finds its meaning in life.

Organizations and Missions

Organizations, as living organisms, must also find a meaning. It is their most elemental spiritual purpose. Profit or economic terms cannot define or exact understanding of it. The organism cannot transmit it in rational speeches and emails, or in monthly reports. Defining organizations in such a way is akin to defining a child by their grades in school. It reduces employment and team participation to a rational exercise, a lopsided economical contract, an emotionless existence in exchange for salaries and benefits.

An organization feels its mission just as a human does. We do not rationally perceive it. It must reverberate and permeate the whole membrane and structure of the firm. Morale and ethics are a direct result of a sense of meaning or mission. Engagement “exercises’’ are a poor and transient substitute. Morale building, like reading a “feel-good” book, is a pale imitation for searching and living and internalizing meaning in an organization’s daily life.

No wonder many people in the arts wonder aloud at the coldness of business. What they really mean is that in their profession they are free (not just encouraged) to emote and dedicate themselves heart and soul to their work. Sports teams almost exclusively speak in emotional and collaborative terms. Too often organizations focus only on the numbers, and not nearly enough on the essential purpose of their missions and projects within those missions. Many of them actually believe themselves purified by purpose and ambition, where emotion has no place.

It is not a coincidence that artists and sports teams liberally sprinkle their aspirations, goals, and direction with emotional and spiritual language. They are disciplines that must be inspired and emotionally dedicated to perform. They intuitively understand the importance of an emotionally shared mission and purpose, and the requisite heartfelt dedication required to succeed. Organizations do themselves a great disservice by ignoring this incredibly important necessity.  It may be impossible to be creative without it.

But that is only part of the challenge.  We can talk and plan and coach about empowerment and engagement.  We can listen more carefully, and nurture and facilitate.  But unless our structure is naturally conducive to binding productivity and team building, we will always be struggling against the tide.

References

Man’s Search for Meaning (4th Edition)[Revised & Updated] Viktor (Author); Frankl

The Denial of Death Ernest Becker

Endnotes

[i] Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, 1st ed. (Beacon Press, 2006).

[ii] Ibid., 122.

Rappaport, Julian. “Empowerment meets narrative: Listening to stories and creating settings.” American Journal of Community Psychology 23, no. 5 (October 1, 1995): 795-807. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02506992.