CHAPTER 2THE JOURNEY TO WORK 1.0
The legacy of work: from hours to money
The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.
— Warren Bennis
The vast amount of time we spend working in our lives is staggering. On average, we will dedicate nearly 90,000 hours to our jobs, making work a significant portion of our waking hours, second only to sleep. As of 2021, there are approximately 3.3 billion people employed globally, collectively contributing an astonishing 297 trillion hours of work. To put this into perspective, that amount of time is more than double the age of the universe and far surpasses the age of our planet Earth.
Unfortunately, the sad reality is that many people are not satisfied or fulfilled by their work. Gallup's latest research1 reveals that 60% of individuals are emotionally detached, while 19% are downright miserable in their jobs. This represents not only a significant productivity gap but also a disheartening way to spend a substantial portion of our lives.
Understanding the history of work
The way we work today is a culmination of collective history, generational elements, and powerful narratives that shape our perspectives. To understand how we can break free from the current work paradigm, it is essential to examine the history of work and the driving forces behind its structure.
One of the prime examples that influence our ...
Get The Power of Play now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
