Company work sells to the young American a dream, a pathway of do what you’re told and your life will be laid out methodically in front of you.
Philosophical Engineering
A type of “Faustian bargain,” as Seth Godin puts it in his book, Linchpin. We are willing to give up our spiritual and moral values for wealth, knowledge, or some other form of stability to ease our worried minds. It’s easier to to not have to figure out what to do with our lives, right? Give it to someone else to figure out. After all, we live in a democracy… wait…
That forty year plan of play it safe and making sure to color within the lines, is hardly desirable to the snowboarding, rock climbing daredevils we were in college. This is a clear message to ourselves that we want more out of life than to sit inside a prison cell called an office with an employee number to identify you when you drown in the paperwork and emails.
Who is writing the rules of your life? Are you the story teller, or are you part of someone else’s coloring book, being scolded when you want to draw outside of the lines?
Of course your work at a company may be very important, and jobs are necessary. But to be a “Linchpin”, we must actively strive to make things happen, invent, and connect with others. Use your instincts as you would tackling the moguls on a ski run or an ascent up a 5.11 climb.