@thegostev

What is work, truly?

Alex Gostev -

The modern workplace is in crisis. Despite rising productivity, employee engagement remains stubbornly low. As leaders, how many of us have felt that disconnect between what we produce and who we are? I remember leading a team through an 8 month delivery of a new product (online dating website, #47 in U.S. by amount of traffic) that looked successful on paper but left everyone feeling oddly empty. We delivered on time, but the spark in people's eyes dimmed.

As managers and executives, we focus on efficiency and performance while neglecting a fundamental question: what is work, truly? To answer this, we might look beyond management theory to ancient Greek philosophy, which offers surprising clarity on our modern problem.

The Greeks distinguished between two fundamental concepts: ponos (πόνος) and ergon (ἔργον). Ponos represented labor done from necessity – painful, toilsome exertion performed merely for sustenance or economic exchange. It wasn't expected to fulfill the human spirit. In contrast, ergon referred to one's proper function or purpose – work aligned with excellence, virtue, and human flourishing (eudaimonia).

This distinction resonates strikingly with today's divide between "just a job" and "meaningful work." According to Gallup, only 23% of employees feel engaged at work. Behind these numbers are real human beings searching for something more elemental - the satisfaction that comes when Monday morning feels less like ponos and more like ergon.

When I first encountered these Greek distinctions as a young manager (around 2008), they transformed how I approached my managerial practice. Instead of asking only what people could produce, I began asking what work would allow them to excel according to their nature.

But the Greek framework extends further, offering a rich vocabulary for understanding human activity:

Techne (τέχνη) represented skilled craft requiring specialized knowledge. Unlike routine labor, techne merged practical ability with conceptual understanding. The craftsperson knew not just what to do but why. Modern knowledge workers exercise techne, though often in fragmented ways that limit satisfaction. At companies like Patagonia, we see techne embodied in their approach to product design, where technical skill is inseparable from understanding environmental principles and customer needs.

Techne - skill and knowledge

Poiesis (ποίησις) meant creative production – bringing something new into existence. This generative activity goes beyond technical execution to creation itself. Think of poiesis as the difference between following a predefined process and creating something genuinely new. It's what we see when a team designs a breakthrough product or when a manager develops an innovative solution to a persistent problem.

Poesis - creative work

Praxis (πρᾶξις) referred to action valuable in itself rather than for its products. Ethical conduct and civic participation exemplified praxis. Praxis manifests when a leader makes a difficult ethical decision not because it maximizes shareholder value, but because it's the right thing to do. It's leadership as an expression of values rather than just a means to outcomes.

Praxis - ethical decision

Perhaps most provocative was schole (σχολή) – leisure not as idleness but as freedom for higher-order thinking and development. Our word "school" derives from schole, suggesting that true learning requires space beyond immediate productivity demands. Google's famous 20% time policy acknowledged what the Greeks understood millennia ago - that innovation requires space away from immediate demands.

Schole - educated leisure

What might these ancient concepts offer modern organizations?

First, they invite us to examine how work is conceptualized. When we reduce professional activity to mere ponos – labor exchanged for compensation – we shouldn't be surprised at disengagement. Employees instinctively seek ergon – work aligned with purpose and excellence.

Consider the case of Microsoft's revival under Satya Nadella, who shifted from a metrics-obsessed culture to one centered on purpose and growth mindset. Engineers who once viewed their work as mere coding tasks (ponos) began seeing themselves as creators solving meaningful human problems (ergon). Microsoft's market value has more than quintupled since this transformation began.

Second, this framework reveals blind spots in management practice. We've optimized for efficiency while neglecting the conditions that enable meaningful work. Research consistently shows that autonomy, mastery, and purpose drive intrinsic motivation – concepts remarkably aligned with Greek thinking.

The Greek concept of eudaimonia (human flourishing) wasn't just about feeling happy at work. It meant functioning excellently according to one's nature - something we might recognize today in the deep satisfaction that comes from applying our best talents to meaningful challenges.

Consider how organizations might reimagine work by deliberately incorporating all dimensions of human activity:

  • Moving beyond ponos by connecting tasks to larger purpose
  • Emphasizing ergon by aligning roles with individual strengths and excellence
  • Fostering techne through continuous skill development with conceptual understanding
  • Creating space for poiesis through creative problem-solving opportunities
  • Valuing praxis through ethical leadership and community-building
  • Protecting schole with time for reflection and learning

Notably, this approach doesn't require abandoning productivity. Aristotle and his contemporaries weren't advocating idleness but rather arguing that truly excellent work emerges when human activity aligns with deeper purpose.

These aren't just philosophical abstractions. They represent the quiet questions many of us ask ourselves late at night: Does my work matter? Am I using my talents fully? Would I do this even if I didn't need the paycheck?

For managers and executives, this suggests reframing how we define and evaluate work. Performance metrics remain important, but they tell only part of the story. Equally critical is whether work enables human flourishing – individually and collectively.

For researchers, these concepts offer fresh perspectives on persistent organizational challenges. How might worker satisfaction, innovation, and retention improve if we designed for the full spectrum of human work rather than just its economic dimension?

The ancient Greeks recognized something we've largely forgotten: work isn't merely what we do to make a living. At its best, it's how we express our humanity, contribute to something larger than ourselves, and fulfill our unique potential.

Our contemporary crisis of work isn't fundamentally about technology, global competition, or generational differences. It's about the eternal human search for meaning – something the Greeks understood thousands of years ago, and something we would do well to remember.

Further Reading