Flourishing

I spend a lot of my time around the professional schools, especially the law school. So when I heard that Wake Forest was hosting a conference with the title, “Why Work? Business, Professions, and the Common Good,” it got my attention. You don’t have to go far to learn that the professions are in a state of change, perhaps even a bit of a crisis.

In January, for example, the New York Times reported that 44% of lawyers would not recommend the profession to a young person and that law school applications decreased by 6.7% in 2005-2006. Medicine is not immune, nearly 60% of doctors had considered leaving the practice of medicine because of a lack of morale. 70% claimed they knew a physician who had done so.

So, why the trouble? That’s a simple question that demands a rather complicated answer. The short version is that in 2008 there are many other ways to make a lot of money that are not as much of a hassle.

The longer answer is that the traditional career path of the professions is loosing its appeal to our generation. Historically, the professions have guaranteed salaries that increased over time as professionals progressed beyond apprenticeship to practice, and eventually to ownership (partnership) of their practice.

Granted, salaries are still very high among professionals, but they’re high among investment bankers and entrepreneurs as well. This emerging generation is more content with high risk and high return, something that the professions do not generally offer. This makes starting a web-based company and eventually selling it for a couple of million pretty darn attractive. More than that, you don’t have to serve an apprenticeship when you’re an entrepreneur. You can be a star overnight, which appeals to a generation already accustomed to thinking of itself as, shall we say, special.

The Professions are also awkwardly wedged between the logic of markets and bureaucracy. The professions are, to be sure, engaged in providing services. As such, they are subject to market forces. However, they are also self-regulating guilds that have limits on the goods and services they may provide.

Similarly, while there is a sort of bureaucratic logic to the way, say, courts conduct their business they don’t fundamentally exist for an administrative purpose. The professions, as Bill Sullivan of the Carnegie Foundation notes, exhibit a third order logic. It is a professional logic that is neither fundamentally consumer driven nor driven by the perpetuation of a bureaucracy. The professions are, instead, marked by a sense of pride in the craft in which they are engaged, and a sense of honor in doing so well.

So what’s your take? Are you a graduate professional student or a practitioner? Why are the professions facing such a big challenge and how can we respond in helpful ways to it?

Whenever I go to Panera, I get a bacon turkey bravo. Its inevitable. There’s something about the combo of turkey, bacon, and gouda that I can’t get enough of. So, its settled. If I’m in Panera, the chances are I’m eating one of these delicious sandwiches with chips and a drink. Yesterday was no different.

I was sitting with a friend, Ben, talking about how it was ten years since he had graduated from the MBA program at Wake Forest University. As we were chatting, a friend of his (and fellow MBA alum) walked up. During the conversation Ben’s friend remarked that he was sick of his job. I’m not sure the precise nature of it, but it had something to do with selling financial products to clients in the medical profession. He said something like: “You know, I’m sick of wearing a suit and tie. I’m sick of standing up and making these pitches…I’m sick of the dog and pony show.” He laughed it off and we moved on to more pleasant topics, namely college basketball.

Ben’s friends comments got me thinking about why we work. A lot of ink has been spilled on this subject, especially recently, so I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here.

It seems to me that we should keep the following questions in mind when we’re thinking about our work:

Are we called to this? The word vocation simply means “calling.” All Christians have a general calling (i.e., to follow Christ), but we also have specific callings as well. Our jobs fit into this category. It seems like the rest of these questions are ways of getting at this.

Does this work fulfill you? When you’re at work do you think, “This is worth doing”? You don’t have to feel this way all the time, but a sense that your work is worthwhile should be something you can reconnect to with some regularity.

Does this work employ your natural abilities and talents? Obviously we can’t be perfect at all aspects of our work, but we should be able to find a way of doing our job that plays to our strengths.

Does this work benefit others? We do well to reflect on the intrinsic value of the work we do. Does what we do help or harm others?

For further reflection, you might want to check out Dorothy L. Sayers’ essay, “Why Work?” in her book Creed or Chaos?