Ditch ‘Purpose’: go on a quest instead
It's your story. You can be the hero.
Some of the best stories involve a quest: Odysseus's epic voyage from Troy to Ithaca, Dorothy's journey to the Emerald City in search of home, Katniss Everdeen’s fight for survival in The Hunger Games. In each, the hero is tested, tempted, and tried. They enter reluctantly and emerge transformed, having confronted their limitations to discover their strengths.
Our work lives, too, are full of hurdles. While less challenging than winged monkeys or genetically generated mutts, they are daunting and full of learning opportunities. As we progress in our careers, navigating obstacles along the way, we become better at what we do and more confident in the value we add.
It’s become en-vogue for companies to want us to feel connected to work by understanding how our roles contribute to a greater mission or impact society. However, finding 'purpose' in for-profit work feels disingenuous. With very few exceptions–Patagonia comes to mind–most companies make decisions because, at the end of the day, they want to grow revenue.
I have no problem with that, and neither should you. If someone is paying you, it's an exchange. They expect results, and you expect fair compensation. I once worked at a newspaper, which delayed my salary for months. Despite the value I contributed as a journalist, it was a profoundly demoralizing experience.
So, what if we reframed our work lives as personal quests? Instead of seeking to define our reason for working with a vague corporate purpose, we could instead emphasize the value we gain every time we overcome an obstacle and emerge stronger for having done it.
The Quest for Progress
In Why Employees Quit, HBR researchers suggest that companies could reduce turnover by supporting their employees' quest for progress, understanding what motivates each individual, and designing roles that offer meaningful work, growth, and opportunities for career advancement.
Quests for progress, they write, “have little to do with career progression as it’s traditionally defined—a steady, linear ascent from junior to senior employee. Rather, progress zigzags according to what the individual wants most out of work and life at a particular time.”
It’s an idea that resonates, but again, why wait for the company to act?
Most of us already know what we seek in our careers, even if it’s hard to put into words. It could be great wealth or simply earning a decent living. It could be challenging work that forces you to learn or the pursuit of great power. And yes, it may even be the greater good—but let’s be honest: not all corp jobs reflect the altruism that your employer might want you to believe.
The HBR article outlines four quests in our work lives:
The quest for growth: For those motivated by becoming team leaders, financial goals, or building something of their own.
The quest for alignment: When someone feels undervalued and wants a role where their skills are recognized.
The quest to regain control: When work-life balance disappears, flexibility becomes the goal.
The quest to escape: When all fails, stress or misalignment drives someone to seek an exit.
I'd add others: the quest for joy, for those determined to avoid work that drags them down, and the quest to make a real and relevant impact on the world, which could be the best quest of all.
Odysseus’ quest was driven by a deep yearning to return to Penelope and reclaim Ithaca. It took him 10 years! While Athena lent a significant helping hand, he succeeded through sheer intelligence and resourcefulness and by learning from the many mistakes he made along the way.
We can be modern versions of Odysseus, the protagonists of our own journeys—whatever the destination we choose and for whatever reasons matter to us. We may not always succeed, and we can embark on as many quests as we wish, but it’s up to us to write our scripts, make them as long or as short as we want, and act them out.
[K]Now You
For me, it has always been about the quest for joy and growth. The jobs were never flawless but came with good challenges and opportunities to grow myself and my impact.
So, what about you? Which quest will you go on? Will you escape? Regain control? Find alignment, pursue growth, or something completely different?
Take a moment to reflect on what could be the most worthwhile investment of your time.
In the attached doc, find some common sense ways to think through your quest and how I think about my own next quest as I prepare to leave Google. Check it out, and if something resonates with you, drop me a note. But only if you can steal a moment from the quest you're tackling today.
You can find me at flaviasekles@quittingcorp.com.
"Go on multiple quests: There isn’t just one path—it can and should evolve over time." This is such a great reminder, Flavia! Even though there's always inertia to change course, there's actually nothing stopping us from adapting to new circumstances, processes, or ways of doing things - all we have to do is be brave :)
"Find time do think!". Um conselho fundamental. Obrigada pelo texto, querida. Sempre tive esse objetivo de me engajar em projetos que me ajudassem a aprender e crescer, ainda que nem sempre de forma organizada... E continuo nesse caminho!