Rhongrong Zhou, Esq.June 2019
Tags: business • corporate culture • engagement• stories• work
Introduction
Different kinds of work shape differing perspectives by adjusting individuals’ framing schema and analysis of the world. These shifts usually happen without consciousness. People use their freedom to choose work, while the work ‘selects’ appropriate people. To some extent, people interact with their environment by working. Work has a mutual effect on the internal challenges of a person and external changes in the world.
Story One: The Hungry  Ocean

While steaming, the passage of time is measured in distance rather than hours, miles being more powerful than so many sweeps of the second hand. And with the exception of standing watches, the crew and myself are seldom aware of the time of day. An experienced crew member never asks, “When will we be there?” but instead might inquire “How many more miles?” At sea, I am almost never cognizant of what day of the week it is but am keenly aware of how many days must pass to bring the next full moon, the concept of time twisting to meet what is meaningful.  ―The Hungry Ocean[i]

In the book The Hungry Ocean, author Linda Greenlaw tells us about her “story of a thirty-day sword fishing voyage aboard one of the best-outfitted boats on the East Coast, complete with danger, humor, and characters so colourful…”[ii]
She was the captain; during the trip they took an adventure at sea, prospecting the future and accomplishing difficult missions. Her work was a trip. The purpose was to enjoy the trip.
The Reason for Work
People have to work, but there must be some other reasons. Most people work to fulfil life needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs contains five tiers, which are physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. In order to fulfil the physiological and safety needs, people work to get money that feeds an individual, supports a family, or sustains a community (volunteer work is an exception).
To satisfy love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization needs, people work to achieve accomplishments: for higher reputations, higher social status, or just for fun. They work to get social recognition and earn a decent living. Different jobs have different values, but all of them are respectable.
In this capitalized society, work, social status, and money are common labels we use to evaluate a person. When people become older, they often regret that their youth was dedicated to work and they lost the opportunity to enjoy nature, the change of seasons, and arts and music, which may not enrich our pockets, but can fulfill our hearts. But when people are young, pressure often comes from society to produce meaningful work.
The Value of Work
Carl worked quickly, with an economy of motion. As the circumference of the gear on the spool neared its maximum capacity, I wondered what more I could find for Carl to do to keep his mind on business and off harassing Peter for the next few days. Once fish started coming aboard, the problem would take care of itself. Carl would be too busy working even to throw Peter a dirty look.[iii]
Aristotle once observed: “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”[iv]
Different jobs have different social functions, but they all create valuable goods, tangible or intangible. For example, farmers produce corn and wheat by planting in the land; business people exchange goods and transfer wealth through diverse transactions; lawyers provide legal services by applying their knowledge and wisdom in daily life; doctors help patients recover from disease. By working, people often lose track of time and duration, but engage in solving problems and overcoming difficulties, like Carl in the Hungry Ocean novel. Through demonstration and dedication people thrive in work, overcoming tedious repetition and reaching an eventual spiritual pleasure.
A person has the feeling of surpassing tedious repetition in work, because he/she experiences individual intellectual creation through working, which adds value to the product. And by collaborating with colleagues, a worker may absorb innovative ideologies to replenish his or her perception. A person with passion and patience can experience pure pleasure during daily breath-taking sunsets, rather than complaining of a faded moonlight….