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MEANING AT THE CORE: Society

We must never be content with what has already been achieved. Life never ceases to put new questions to us, never permits us to come to rest. . . . The man who stands still is passed by; the man who is smugly contented loses himself.

Neither in creating or experiencing may we rest content with achievement; every day, ever hour makes new deeds necessary and new experiences possible.¹ (V. Frankl)

In addition to the crisis of meaning in our personal lives and workplaces, there is also a crisis of meaning in our society. The symptoms of this existential crisis echo what Viktor Frankl referred to many decades ago as the “mass neurotic triad” (addiction, aggression, and depression)—a notion we introduced in chapter 4. Unfortunately, these symptoms have not waned over the years; if anything, they have intensified and now manifest themselves in ways that Frankl could not have imagined when he first wrote about them. These societal conditions are symptoms, not root causes, of the lack of meaning. This crisis of meaning in society received attention in an article in the Utne Reader Online, where life in the postmodern world is described as displaying certain characteristics and influences that look very much like manifestations of Frankl’s existential vacuum:

Why am I sad? Why am I anxious? Why can’t I love? The answer, perhaps, lies deep in our collective subconscious. The route to the surface passes through the postmodern hall of mirrors. The trip looks forbidding. And yet it is a worthwhile excursion. Think of it as trying to solve the tantalizing psychothriller of your own life, the ultimate existential whodunit. . . . Like it or not, we humans are stuck in a permanent crisis of meaning, a dark room from which we can never escape. Postmodernism pulls the philosophical carpet out from under us and leaves us in an existential void.²

But, of course, Viktor Frankl, who was one of the world’s most profound and true optimists, would disagree vehemently with the idea that we were stuck permanently in a crisis of meaning. As long as we are not prisoners of our thoughts, we will come to realize that the keys to escaping the “dark room” and to finding true freedom are within us, and within reach. This chapter explores what we consider to be the many root causes of this meaning crisis in society and offer a practical way to finding meaning using our MEANINGology paradigm and OPA! formula.

Connect Meaningfully with Others (O)

When we fail to connect meaningfully with others, we are simply individuals living in the same place. We may not recognize that we have much in common, and our interactions may be more akin to ships passing each other in the night than authentic relationships built on trust, awareness of interdependency, and mutuality of interests and benefits. Against this backdrop, the foundation upon which we build our communities and our society can be destroyed. Here are a few of the factors contributing to the breakdown of our communities (our “villages”):

• We are a more transient population than we used to be. We now more typically move from city to city, country to country, fracturing ties to one specific place and group of people.

• Many people live alone or apart in apartments, often not knowing who is living above, below, or beside us. We may only see our neighbors on an elevator. We engage in superficial conversation or simply look away, missing the opportunity to connect.

• The traditional family structure has been challenged with the rising incidence of divorce or because we are working two jobs, overlapping at odd hours, not eating meals together. Opportunities to connect with one another are limited.

• As the economy moves to more “gig” part-time or contract jobs, we find it is more difficult to form lasting friendships from work. We frequently change jobs, which results in the loss of potential connections from our workplaces.

• On the whole, we are less interested than we used to be in joining religious or social groups.

• We prefer to bury our heads in technology, even streaming movies at home instead of going out to a theater where we might interact with others.

• We are less interested in community affairs and community leaders than in previous decades, as evidenced by our historically low voter-turnout numbers.

• Significantly, we now turn to online news sources that reinforce a particular worldview. As we filter out what does not resonate with us, sooner or later, we fail to see or hear any alternative views. Eventually we find it difficult to interact meaningfully with those who hold differing views. As we view the world through a smaller lens, we lessen our ability to learn from diverse perspectives. Our societies become more fragmented as a result of this increasing myopia.

• We appear to care less about what happens in our neighborhoods, as illustrated by the “broken windows theory.” If a broken window is left not repaired, people will conclude that no one cares and soon more windows are broken, spreading urban decay throughout the community.

• Perhaps most significantly, money has moved to the center of our society—everything seems to revolve around money. We often focus on our financial needs instead of on our broader social needs or the needs of the greater community.

These factors have resulted in the loss of connection to our communities or “villages.” Many of us feel we don’t belong or that we are not an important part of the community. When society becomes more and more fragmented, we lack a common identity and a common sense of purpose. We shift, instead, to taking care of ourselves, focusing more on our individual needs and less on the greater good. U.S. president John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Unfortunately, it seems that today the pendulum has swung all the way over to the other side, to “What can you—individually and collectively—do for me?” Even though we hear statements like “we live in a global village” or “it takes a village to raise a child,” we don’t live and act like true villagers! Sadly, we are losing the “soul” of our communities, ignoring the danger that when a community (or society) loses its soul, it loses itself.

The solution is to put meaning at the center of our society, to put meaning at the core. When we focus on meaning, we can create a greater sense of community by rebuilding our connections with and helping our neighbors, by getting more involved in our local economies, politics, and social groups. We can find more commonalities while respecting differences. We can swing the pendulum back from excessive individualism toward more of a concern for the collective and societal good.

Here is a small, but very meaningful, example from Greece. Despite facing a financial crisis, the people of Greece have demonstrated their shared humanity by helping each other as well as by extending hospitality to the flood of refugees who have landed on their shores and in their cities. Two illustrations of creating and practicing the “village” concept are the On Hold and Walls of Kindness programs. In coffee shops and grocery stores Greek citizens are paying it forward by purchasing additional items and placing them “on hold” for a person or family in need. The initiative is now spreading to drugstores, small clinics, and even to hair salons. The other grassroots humanitarian project engages Greek volunteers who hang hooks throughout the community or neighborhood for use by people who are encouraged to hang bags of food and clean clothes for the needy.³ These extraordinary volunteer efforts have not gone unnoticed. Oscar-winning British actress and political activist Vanessa Redgrave, for instance, who visited debt-ridden Greece in the face of the refugee crisis in 2016, made the following insightful observation about how the Greeks were connecting meaningfully with others: “The Greek people are showing the world how to be human . . . how to try to help fellow human beings.”⁴

There is hope. We are starting to see more and more awareness of the need to connect in all aspects of society. We know there is a tremendous need for more shared senior housing so that elders have a chance to develop more friendships or simply have someone to talk with during their days. We know that efforts to build community among younger folks are also taking root. For instance, Smith in Beltline, a new condominium project in Calgary, Canada, is attracting people who want an increased sense of community by offering such unique features as shared spaces for work and socializing, an inventory of bikes for residents to use, and a shared tool library.⁵ The “sharing economy” is helping people save money and also helping to build new connections between people, with such services as shared accommodation (Airbnb), shared rides (Uber and Lyft), shared cars (Zipcars and Car2Go), and shared work spaces (WeWork). Community garden plots and the return to farmers markets are examples of this growing interest in (re)connecting meaningfully with others.

We often tell ourselves that we are separate, but in reality we are part of and dependent on the whole. Self and society are inseparable. We need a stronger sense of belonging in our communities to help us find the meaning that we are all searching for.

Engage with Deeper Purpose (P)

We are facing an existential crisis in many facets of our society, including business, government, and education. The purposes and practices of these entities are being closely scrutinized, with many people calling for radical changes to address inequality, greed, and corruption. These calls for change are really calls for meaning. Corporations have been especially under attack for their obsession with profits. It’s been forty-five years since Milton Friedman famously wrote that the responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Many companies follow this mantra, ruthlessly cutting expenses, including jobs, in an effort to maximize profits and, with it, to maximize shareholder or investor returns. When the only stated goal of an organization is to make money, however, people tend to follow the money. The deeper purpose and meaning of the organization are lost.

Not all companies are only focused on profits, though. When fire destroyed the Malden Mills factory in Massachusetts, three thousand people were instantly out of jobs. As he watched his factory burn, Aaron Feuerstein, president and CEO of the company, decided that it was not the end of Malden Mills. The first thing he did was keep all three thousand workers on the payroll, with full benefits for three months. There was nowhere for them to work, but Feuerstein knew that it was unconscionable to put three thousand people out on the streets. The company was directly or indirectly involved on every level in the local community. It cost millions of dollars to keep all the workers on the payroll, forcing the company into bankruptcy. But Feuerstein prevailed. He set up temporary plants in old warehouses so the company could start supplying its fabrics to its customers. He risked everything—his money, his reputation, his business. He believed in his employees, however, and they believed in him, working extra hard to get the company back on its feet. The company eventually came out of bankruptcy, illustrating that it’s not all about the money. Loyalty and meaning created the comeback, for the company, the employees, and the community.

Consistent with other studies, a survey conducted by Korn Ferry of more than 7,500 business and human resource leaders in 107 countries found that, across all leadership levels, there is a critical need to improve employee engagement. Importantly, the vast majority (87 percent) of respondents reported that linking an organization’s social responsibility efforts to leadership development has a positive impact on both engagement and performance. “In today’s world employees are looking for organizations that are giving back to the community. Where there’s purpose, there’s a sense of meaning. There’s a sense of value. Opportunities to give back and serve are perfect places to develop leadership.” The Korn Ferry study results underscore the fact that people want to work for a company whose culture is aligned with their values—a criterion that is especially true for younger workers. In fact, the number-one reason millennials choose one job over another, Korn Ferry noted, is visibility and buy-in to the mission/vision of an organization. Progressive companies recognize that it isn’t good enough to just make a profit anymore; they are going beyond volunteerism, linking profitability with social responsibility and embedding these goals in their core mission statements. “Done for the right reasons, a focus on purpose and social responsibility has a lasting impact on each and every person who comes in contact with your organization.”⁶

There needs to be a shift to a more human-centered, meaning-focused approach to business. We call this anthrocapitalism—combining the Greek word anthropos (humanity) and the English word capitalism. Anthrocapitalism is not specifically about corporate social responsibility per se, which is often a separate initiative layered onto the organization. It’s not about making a profit and then donating some portion to charity. Rather, it’s about a entirely new operating model that starts with putting meaning at the core. It’s about how the organization makes its money. It’s about clarifying the deeper role the organization can play in making the world a better place. It’s about balancing economic value with the broader social value an organization can offer to co-create and transform society. In essence, anthrocapitalism is about changing the purpose of business from maximizing shareholder value to maximizing its meaning contribution to the world. The broader concept of meaning, not just profit, is the new bottom line.

We need to put meaning at the core of business. By taking a broader view of the contributions an organization can make to society, we can create new operating models and “next practices,” not just best practices, which take all stakeholders into account. We can change our perspectives and worldview from finding meaning in “working for x company” to finding meaning by “working for x company serving this community in this world.” We are starting to see more examples of anthrocapitalism in action with such organizations as Timberland, Tom’s Shoes, Nature’s Way, and Seventh Generation leading the way. Innocent Juice in the United Kingdom (“trying to do the right thing”), Texas A&M University (“developing leaders of character dedicated to serving the greater good”), and Aveda (“to care for the world we live in”) are other examples that give us hope! As Thomas Moore, best-selling author of Care of the Soul, has astutely observed, there is deep meaning in the ultimate purpose of conducting “business” in society and of caring for our “economic” well-being:

Economics is the law of life, and in fact this word also has deep meaning, coming from oikos, Greek for home or temple . . . and nomos, meaning management, custom and law. . . . Business involves all aspects of managing our home, whether the family house or the planet, and therefore has to do with survival, fulfillment, community, and meaning.⁷

We also need to put meaning at the core of government. If government is really about directing and managing the public’s business, then there should be ample opportunity for leaders in government, at all levels and in all categories (elected, appointed, and civil service), to shift the conversation from prosperity, in terms of our financial situations, to the broader topic of meaning. As with the business sector, government action that is authentically committed to meaning will drive engagement and resilience, health and well-being, and performance and innovation. This will help to ensure that the delivery of public goods and services by and through government will always reflect a passion for excellence, a concern for guarding the public’s trust, and a focus on advancing the public welfare.

As an instrument of society, government’s purpose, as the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle wisely advised, “is not merely to provide a living but to make a life that is good.”⁸ Doing the public’s work is a noble calling and, as such, should be viewed with respect rather than with suspicion, ambivalence, and disrespect. To quote Aristotle: “Government is more than a legal structure, more than an arrangement of offices; it is a manner of life, a moral spirit.”⁹ For public servants, Aristotle’s wisdom strikes at the heart and soul of who they are and what they have chosen to do. It suggests that working in government really does mean something—above and beyond the obvious fact of gainful employment.

At the basic level, society is about how the community bonds together not only to survive but to thrive—that is, to grow stronger as individuals and as a group. Unfortunately, capitalism has often made money the focus of government and the political discourse instead of allowing government and politics to focus on the end goal of building a strong social system that both provides a living and makes a life that is good for all within it. It is getting harder and harder to engage people in our communities. How do leaders set a vision for citizens who are not interested in the greater common good and, instead, are focused on looking after their own interests first? How do leaders keep a country together when society is breaking into more and more factions, and free trade zones increase the power of international corporations to lead while reducing the power of local governments and their constitutions to do so? When half the eligible population fails to vote, how do leaders design programs for the whole versus the vocal, very small minority?

This is where meaning comes in. Good leaders are those who are open to involving others in shared debate and authentic dialogue to develop a collective vision and redefine the role and structure of government. Good leaders persuade people to sacrifice for the common good. Good leaders synthesize other people’s positions, they do not criticize them. Good leaders inspire people to fulfill their potential, which in turn enables society to fulfill its potential. But how should we define “success” in society? Too often, we are focused on growth as measured by GDP (gross domestic product), defined as the value of economic activity. Governments become obsessed with programs that hold promise to boost GDP on the never-ending quest for more growth by increasing the consumption of goods and services.

The problem with this approach is that GDP is not a good measure of the actual well-being or general welfare of a society. GDP fails to take into account the meaningful life—connecting meaningfully with others (including our relationships and caring for our communities and environments), engaging with deeper purpose (including our level of education, the sharing economy, and volunteer efforts), and embracing life with attitude (including the state of our mental, spiritual, and physical health). Should success not be measured by other means, such as in Bhutan, where they measure “gross national happiness”? With meaning at its core, the new economy should value these broader human factors, not just the traditional material and financial factors that are usually associated with measuring GDP.

One challenge facing society-at-large is unemployment. Unemployment is a meaning issue as well as a money issue. Employment is essential to well-being. People need the dignity of everyday work, a purpose to get up in the morning, and the self-esteem that comes with contributing to a worthy goal. Unfortunately, modern society faces an onslaught of automation and artificial intelligence (AI), which will likely lead to more unemployment in the future. As more and more companies automate jobs in order to cut costs, routine tasks and the human beings associated with them are being replaced by technology. Here are some examples:

• Robots are doing more factory work.

• Kiosks with touch screens take customer orders at restaurants (making it difficult to even get a job at McDonald’s).

• Kiosks at airports check people in for their flights.

• Sales people are replaced with online ordering from home computers or smartphones.

• Call centers are automated.

• Health care assessments, such as radiology, are diagnosed by technology.

• Mail is sorted by machine, not by hand.

• E-books replace the need to print, inventory, transport, and sell books in retail stores, replacing workers all along the way.

• Uber, Airbnb, and Hotels.com replace travel agents with technology.

• Customers scan their own purchases at stores, replacing checkout clerks.

• Teachers are replaced by centralized, online courses.

• “Block chain” technology eliminates office jobs and enables global transactions to occur, bypassing many of the standard systems and workers in these systems.

Technology is driving massive global unemployment, wiping out jobs at all levels, and increasing inequality. No longer is there long-term job security. When unemployment increases, instability in our society increases. We need to ask how technology, specifically AI, will contribute to us living a meaningful life. If we turn everything (or even just half of our jobs) over to technology, what will our society look like in the future? This is not simply a question about the future of technology, the job market, or macroeconomics. On the contrary, it is a question of profound existential concern since it pertains to the fate of humanity and the world.

We need to help people prepare for the future. Unfortunately, many of our educational institutions are busy teaching about the past rather than equipping people, regardless of age, with the mind-set and skills necessary to succeed in the future. Instead of teaching solely what was and what is, we should balance educational offerings by also teaching what could be. If we believe our society will be a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, we should change the education systems to support this vision. We should stress that education is a lifelong process, not strictly the domain of people in certain age categories. To be a truly meaningful and transformative path to personal, organizational, and societal well-being, education in its ideal form needs to be interdisciplinary in its design, process, and outcomes.

A unique initiative in Greece offers the kind of education attributes we are talking about—one with which, in the spirit of full disclosure, we have personal experience as faculty and advisers. The International Center for Leading Studies (TICLS), based in Athens, is an independent, nonprofit foundation, dedicated to preparing people for the future and advancing intercultural awareness and collaboration through authentic dialogue. Offering nontraditional, experiential, interdisciplinary, multicultural, continuing education programs for all age groups (high school and university students, young and senior professionals), the aim of TICLS is “to promote emotionally intelligent society leadership with values through programs that disseminate information, stimulate dialogue, broaden personal horizons, expand knowledge, encourage inter-cultural dialogue, and challenge perspectives across our intertwined world.”¹⁰

The Interdisciplinary Leadership Academy, one of TICLS’s summer programs, for instance, offers university students from around the world an innovative academic experience designed “to develop a geopolitical culture for participants, elucidate the complex nature of modern international economy, and develop soft skills, such as diplomacy, communication, and relationship building.” According to TICLS dean and cofounder, Dr. Aliki Mitsakos, MD, PhD, “TICLS creates educational programs that complement formal education by focusing on the latest trends in the world around us . . . trends changing the landscape in dozens of ways—politically, socially, economically. . . . education, in its primal meaning, that will enhance the Leadership potential of the participating individuals and the ancient Greek concept of a complete personality, Paedeia.”

To be sure, the educational opportunities that TICLS provides are unique and, in our opinion, offer an inspirational model of education reform that can and needs to be applied on a global scale. Not all education programs, of course, are as innovative. Very few schools offer classes in innovation as a subject area, either within or across disciplines. When we taught innovation management at the University of Toronto, our course was one of the few in North America to challenge students to develop a broader view of the world, to identify emerging trends and innovative opportunities, and to think through challenges with innovative thinking techniques. As technology is forcing all of us to redefine opportunities, jobs, and processes, we need to develop new skills, including many that are still referred to as “soft skills.”

We need to put meaning at the core of education. What separates us, as human beings, from technology is meaning. The more technology we have, the more meaning we need. We need to emphasize skills, along the lines of TICLS, like creative thinking, leadership, collaboration, empathy, networking, diplomacy, and persuasive selling. We need to include more personal development and meaning-focused courses in our schools at all levels, so that students can deepen their understanding of themselves and their natural talents. Many students graduate with lots of knowledge except in the key area of “know thyself!” This shortcoming in our education systems must change. A greater emphasis on meaning (that is, putting “meaning at the core”) can help at the individual level. It can also create a stronger sense of community and society.

Embrace Life with Attitude (A)

Viktor Frankl taught us that if we look for it, there is a seed of meaning in every moment of our lives. Unfortunately, we often overlook and thus don’t discover this meaning because we focus instead on all the stress we are experiencing in the various areas of our lives. We look outward to our friends, neighbors, and coworkers and see that they, too, are struggling with stress. We turn on the television or go online and see that people all over the world are suffering. It becomes a vicious cycle: the more we experience a sense of instability in our communities and in the world at large, the more stress and existential angst we experience. We can break out of this vicious cycle by finding the “seeds of meaning” in our own lives and work. This discovery process is aided by connecting meaningfully with others, engaging with deeper purpose, and embracing life with an appreciative attitude. We can also turn to others for support, for we are not in this life alone.

Two main areas of stress in our society are finances and health. If we put meaning at the core of our finances, we might be able to deal with some of the stresses people face by helping them manage their money better. Banks and other financial institutions, including credit card companies, auto and student loan providers, can do so much more in educating people about making smarter choices about the debt they undertake. Perhaps, as a result, they will learn (and be encouraged) to avoid the pressures to consume more “stuff,” which typically creates yet another vicious cycle of debt. If we put meaning at the core of our health, we might be able to turn the tide against obesity, emotional distress, and disease; instead, we could focus on the state of our health and the overall state of our well-being. Medical doctors and other health-care practitioners can be encouraged to teach us about health before inflammation and disease occur. A stronger focus on the meaning of nutrition, mental health, and healthy lifestyle choices can help improve our lives, including addressing the root causes of addictions, depression, and even aggression—what Frankl called the “mass neurotic triad” (introduced in chapter 4). The sooner we learn to make meaning the core driver of all our thoughts, feelings, and actions, the healthier we might be.

It all starts with meaning. When we live and work from the core of meaning, we can understand how the pieces of our lives fit together and perhaps improve the contributions we can make to society. As Steve Jobs and his company Apple encouraged us to do in the famous 1997 marketing campaign, we need to “think different.” Jobs and his colleagues believed that people with passion can really change the world. They profiled the crazies—people like Richard Branson, Neil Armstrong, Albert Einstein, and Rosa Parks—people crazy enough to believe they could change the world and did! Importantly, none of these pioneers and thought leaders could have accomplished what they did had it not been for their resilient, can-do attitude. This was a choice that each individual, against all odds, had to make on his or her own; no one could have done it for them.

To be sure, times have changed since 1997. Never before have so many ordinary people had the capacity to be extraordinary and change the world. All of us need to ask ourselves if we believe we can change the world and if we can “think different” to be the change we’d like to see. We need to ask ourselves if our choice of attitude will allow us to realize our dreams. Will our attitude propel us forward or hold us back? Remember Frankl’s timeless advice: “Where there is a will, there is a way; I add, where there is an aim, there is a will.” Do we have such an aim, specifically one that will allow us to manifest our will to meaning? In this context, what role(s) do we want to play in creating more meaningful workplaces, more meaningful communities, and a kinder, more generous, more meaning-centered society?

Meaning is at the heart of what makes us human. But we cannot heal our workplaces and society unless we first heal ourselves. Ultimately, as we’ve suggested throughout this book, each of us holds the keys to our inner mental prison cell. Consequently, we each have the authority and the ability, should we decide to exercise them, to release ourselves from our captivity and no longer be prisoners of our thoughts. When we understand the sources of meaning in our own lives, we open up pathways to unlimited opportunities for improving our resilience and engagement, advance our health and well-being, and increase our performance and innovation in all aspects of living and working. Put differently, we can use meaning as the foundation for all we do in life, work, and society. With meaning at the core, we can contribute to building a world that really works for all!

Meaning Reflections

Imagine an ideal society that was designed and operated with meaning at its core. What would it look like? Describe how it would be different from the society you live in today. Now think about ways in which you can help your neighborhood or local community change or develop in ways that resemble what you have envisioned for the ideal society. In what way(s) might you involve your family members, friends, and coworkers in helping to accomplish this vision of a neighborhood or local community that has meaning at its core?

Meaning Questions

• What kind deed or act of kindness did you do today to “pay it forward”?

• How has your work improved the lives of others? How can your work improve the lives of others in the future?

• Does your attitude propel you forward or hold you back from contributing meaningfully to society?

Meaning Affirmation

I will authentically commit to making a positive, meaningful difference in the world through my attitude, words, and actions.