You may not know the name of Milton Glaser, but you likely know at
least one of his works of art—the “I Love NY” logo. In his book,
Art is Work, Glaser provides these definitions of work: “Work that
goes beyond its functional intention and moves us in deep and mysterious ways
we call great work. Work that is conceived and executed with elegance
and rigor we call good work. Work that meets its intended need honestly
and without pretense, we call simply work. Everything else, the sad and
shoddy stuff of daily life, is bad work.”
I have just three categories: Great Work, Good Work and
Bad Work. And by “work”, I’m talking about all the
stuff you do, including looking after your children, watching TV, preparing meals,
exercising, being with friends, being by yourself, and so on. How do you know
what’s what? Here’s my litmus test:
• Great work. Great work brings with it both exhilaration and
terror. You’re delighted when someone asks you what you do. When you are
doing great work, you tap into reserves of courage to get done what needs to be
done. You often have no idea how to do what needs to be done—and are only
a little fazed by that, because you are certain that this is truly what needs
to be done. Great work is a place where impact and effect trumps over efficiency
and process. It is often a place of waste, because creativity needs waste to thrive.
It is a place of inspiration, where suddenly all your past makes sense. Great
work honors your skills, your passion and your experience. Great work is also
a difficult place to be. The temptation to “downgrade” to the comfort
of good work is constant. Your “inner critic” is rampant, whispering
“Who are you to try this? Who do you think you are to be this ambitious?
Don’t you know you’re doomed to failure?” To do great work,
you must be ever vigilant.
• Good work. With good work, there is no shame attached. You’re doing work that uses your skills; it gets stuff done; it may well pay you a wage.
Good work is comfortable, because you know what you’re doing. It is likely
routine. So when you’re asked what you do, sometimes it feels like you’re
trying to convince yourself that this is great. Good work is often about “being
efficient,” without ever asking, “Is this the right work to be efficient
with?” Peter Drucker said: “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness
is doing the right things.” In a year’s time, you won’t remember
the good work you are doing.
• Bad work. And as for bad work, the test is simple. It’s when you have that sudden flash of realization, and you ask yourself: Why exactly
am I wasting my life with this?
Take Action for Great Work
Here’s a quick exercise. Draw a circle and divide it into three
segments that represent the portion of each of type of work in your life today.
How much great work are you doing? More than 80 percent? Less than 20 percent?
In my experience, many of us do a fair amount of good work, but very
little great work. The goal is to remove bad work from your life, and increase
the great work. What must you say “no” to in order to double the great
work in your life? What would you have to say “yes” to in order to
halve the amount of bad work in your life? PE
