live, laugh, … work?

Finding Meaning & Connection at Work and in Our Communities

This is a time of great realizations and reconsiderations—for individuals, for communities, and for the world at large. In the last two and a half years, for a lot of us, the pandemic has brought into perspective what our priorities are. More and more people are considering new ways to live as a result. Americans' attitudes towards work, in particular, are shifting.

In April of last year, people started quitting their jobs in record numbers. The Great Resignation showed that people are rethinking what work means to them and pursuing ways of life that add more value to their day-to-day being. As Derek Thompson wrote in The Atlantic, “This level of quitting is really an expression of optimism that says, We can do better.”

What does “better” look like? How can we continue this positive search for new visions of work and living? How can a person develop a more meaningful, fulfilling life at work and at home? And what is the potential when large numbers of people all start searching for better?

Those are the questions that are present in my mind and the driving force for the work we do at Next Big Thing. People are seeking out and expecting more meaning and belonging at work. Meanwhile, companies face enormous challenges in maintaining an engaged workforce and responding to stakeholder demands for action on social and environmental causes. More and more, all of these players want to see business as a force for good in the world.

We see these challenges as having a shared solution. There is an opportunity for companies to innovate their social responsibility approaches and more holistically include their employees and their communities and impact groups. Imagine a world where companies are both engaging their teams and their communities in the work of creating hyper-local impact. 

What does it look like when companies can develop deep roots and relationships in their community? And facilitate their employees' connections to place and people?

During the pandemic, mutual aid networks rose up, emergency funds were organized, community fridges sprouted, and despite all the fear and uncertainty, huge groups of people worked together and helped each other and their neighbors. This is a practice that can and should continue. Not only did local grassroots groups benefit from more resources, people participating benefited too. It feels good to do something. It feels good to do good.

This should not be surprising. There’s a lot of research to support that people like helping others, that helping others feels good, and it’s contagious. Altruism can help create a sense of belonging and has a lasting impact both on the giver and the receiver.

Further, communities and neighbors were able to connect in new ways, from playing music from fire escapes, to dropping off baked treats, to socially-distanced dance parties – these were all moments that engaged people. These small moments of peace, distraction, and communal magic were lifesavers in a dark time. How can we keep all these kinds of good work going?

And we’re not just talking about your yearly volunteer day or pizza party! The kind of listlessness that is permeating work culture right now needs more than the usual corporate retreat approaches. It needs joyful, meaningful engagements, with activities and stories that use science-backed techniques to shift perspectives and open up thinking.

This is the part of NBT’s work that I am particularly excited about. Our Timeline Adventures are half or full day experiences for teams to really connect with the places where they live and work. In June, we designed a day-long adventure for a group of New Yorkers to explore the city where they work and live, seeing our city’s waterways how they were in the past, how they are in the present, and how they could be in the future. The group embarked on a multi-sensory walking tour slash scavenger hunt of Governor’s Island and lower Manhattan, where they got to taste, smell, and hear their way through different timelines, and connect with a fantastic trio of local groups that are actually working on making a better New York happen. 

All of NBT’s Timeline Adventures are like this: creative experiences that engage the senses, connect to a sense of past, present, and possible (better) futures, and open up possibilities for teams to connect with their communities in meaningful, energizing ways that deepen belonging and go beyond a one-off rote volunteer activity. Meaning is grounded in emotion and our Timeline Adventures are designed with behavioral science in mind, combining art, storytelling, imagination, history and science to drive positive feelings of both individual inspiration and mutual connection.

The result? Team members get to dream, relax, and learn about the people and places in the area where they live and work. They get inspired. From our June adventure, participants said that it was “one of the best days” and it helped combat isolation and spark connection and reflection. Our three partners (La Morada, Circular Economy Manufacturing, and LES Ecology)  were all connected to new fans and potential first-time supporters.

This is just one example of our Timeline Adventures. The potential of these kinds of experiences should not be understated or underestimated. Imagine if every company started investing in their employees' sense of meaning and belonging, both at work and in their communities. Companies would have more invigorated teams and have actual impact in their home communities. 

Rebecca Solnit, when asked about the the way disasters have prompted lasting civic change, noted the way individuals “discovered a sense of self and a sense of connection to the people and place around them that did not go away, and, though they went back to their jobs in a market economy and their homes, that changed perspective stayed with them.”

Let’s not wait for another pandemic or disaster. Resignation or quiet quitting aren’t the only options. The world is at a point where large numbers of people are daring to imagine a better, brighter future brimming with new ways of working and being. Creating new visions requires new solutions and new ways of dreaming. How exciting to be at the forefront of helping teams and companies at building bold, luminous futures for themselves and their communities.