Growing up during the dot-com boom, I'd often hear: "Go into tech. That's where the money is." There was also the typical, "Are you sure about journalism? There's no work in it anymore."
Needless to say, I didn't take this advice.
Mass layoffs last year in tech companies proved me right — somewhat. Apparently, success in the future is much less about getting a specific job and more about finding meaning in the work, no matter the industry. Seth Godin, a business management author and former dot-com executive, dives into this issue with his new book, "The Song of Significance."
Godin ruminates on the harms created by profit-hungry industrial capitalism and instead outlines a model where management teams are organized around problem-solving and creating change.
Godin's book is written in 144 short stanzas and comes across more as poetry than a traditional business management book. At times, the writing is repetitive and relies on generic, almost meaningless statements — for instance, it's obviously easier said than done to run companies by "meaning, not only a paycheck," Godin writes. Still, his quiet style of writing sends a rejuvenating message for banks and businesses struggling to make sense of the workplace in the year 2023.
The efficiency-obsessed working model introduced by the Industrial Revolution thrived on profit and power.
"Feed the machine first, turn everything into machines, and scale up the enterprise," Godin writes. Accumulating this type of power churns out faster profits at cheaper costs.
But during the pandemic, workers rejected this culture of profit-before-all-else and became more willing to quit the proverbial rat race. Employees became more focused on a better work-life balance and sought out jobs that provided them with flexibility. During the Great Resignation, 47 million employees quit their jobs citing poor work-life balance and company culture as key reasons for their departures.
Godin addresses this by writing that in the post-pandemic, AI-harnessing age, workers should know that machines will "out-measure, out-standardize, and out-manage us. It's a race to the bottom."
At first glance, it may seem strange to think that bankers could benefit from a book that discourages churning out profits and advocates for finding a gentler way. Profits to Wall Street are like a hammer to a nail.
But given this profound shift, it is essential that bankers consider whether their management styles are right for the moment. The way employees view work has changed dramatically over the last few years. This is where Godin's ideas could prove useful.
Since the pandemic, workers developed a strong urge to create or just reach for more, Godin opines. He calls this "increase," what he describes as the tendency to leap confidently into uncertainty, similar to the way a swarm of bees fly away to find a new hive. During this season they get from "here to there without a precise map," and do it with "cooperation, dignity and connection," he writes.
Much of society is itching to create what Godin calls increase but has been held back by a sense of complacency. To solve this, Godin suggests moving toward "significance," or work that creates an impact. Significance itself is the feeling of change being made that is not always comfortable to sit with, Godin notes. It can come across as tension or inconvenience. This discomfort, he writes, is a sign that change is underway.
Many may assume that finding the true significance in the work of bankers could be difficult. Because banks are in the business of money, it's easy to assign profit making as the purpose of the industry. And to be sure, for many bankers, the job is merely about the promise of a healthy paycheck — what Godin calls a "false proxy" of performance.
But as the desires of many employees change and evolve, financial institutions can update internal cultural norms. That could include seeing the significance of banking as an essential industry that supports the economies of local communities, for instance. To use an analogy from Godin's work: A queen bee to a hive is what banking is to the economy. He writes that "the purpose of a beehive isn't to make honey: Honey is a by-product of a healthy hive."
Determining the significance of the work at a bank can become even more difficult as the organization grows, under Godin's theory. He cites that Whatsapp only had 19 employees when it sold for more than $1 billion.
Silicon Valley Bank is another example that could be examined through Godin's lens. Since it failed in March, observers have scrambled to make sense of its sudden collapse and that has included considering its culture. A Financial Times article cited the bank's aggressive growth and hiring binges, coupled with outsourcing of work to expensive consultants as reasons for its eventual demise.
In instances like these, Godin suggests that the missing piece is cultivating a culture of "enrollment." He defines this as employees who genuinely believe in the change they are seeking to make and have a sense of real ownership over the work. Godin says that resignations can be seen as a sign of healthy change, and a sharpening of the team's goals.
A look into the culture of SVB and the other banks that failed this year suggests that perhaps finding a type of significance beyond getting rich is not only helpful for banks, but essential to their longevity and health.
While banks consider the shift toward creating meaningful work, a central question remains: What happens when significance rubs up against a company's costs and bills? Godin asserts that significance is profitable in the longer term.
As a first step to solving the problem of significance in banks and, more broadly, the private sector, bankers need to put faith in the profitability of a mission and trust in the value of impact.
