The Future of Work: A Journey

I remember the day it hit me. I was sitting in yet another pointless meeting, watching my colleagues stifle yawns and surreptitiously check their phones under the table. The presenter rambled on, his voice a monotonous drone about quarterly business planning, the latest project management formats, and the critical importance of purpose-driven work. Suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, I thought: "What the hell are we all doing here?"

It wasn't just that meeting, of course. It was a feeling that had been building for years - a splinter in my mind, as it were. Something about work, about the whole concept of employment, just felt... off. Wrong, somehow. But I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Until now.

I think I've finally figured it out. And let me tell you, it's both terrifying and exhilarating. It's going to change everything we think we know about work, about the economy, about our very identities. And it's already happening.

The Great Unraveling

Let's start with a hard truth: the ideal number of employees for any company is zero.

I know, I know. It sounds crazy, maybe even cruel. But think about it. Companies don't exist to provide jobs. They exist to provide products or services and make money. If they could do that without any employees, they absolutely would.

And for the first time in history, that's becoming possible.

Slavoj Žižek, the philosopher and cultural critic, has a quote that I think captures this moment perfectly:

"The threat today is not passivity, but pseudo-activity, the urge to 'be active', to 'participate', to mask the Nothingness of what goes on."

That's exactly what so much of our work has become - pseudo-activity. We're busy being busy, shuffling papers, attending meetings, sending emails, all to mask the fact that so much of what we do isn't really necessary.

But there's a deeper, more psychoanalytic way to look at this phenomenon. Consider this perspective:

"Bullshit jobs function like signifiers whose function is to prop up the symbolic order."

In this view, many jobs aren't just unnecessary - they're actively working to maintain the status quo, to keep our current economic and social systems in place. These jobs can be seen as falling into different categories: those that aggressively assert the dominant ideologies, those that passively support them, and those that paper over the cracks in the system.

For instance, some jobs involve defending brand "rights" or persuading consumers about product "virtues." Others involve inventing meaningless tasks just to have something to manage. And some jobs exist simply to nod along and confirm the importance of other, equally unnecessary positions.

This perspective suggests that much of our work isn't just pointless - it's part of a larger system designed to keep itself going, regardless of whether it's actually beneficial to society or fulfilling for the individuals involved.

And now, with the rise of AI and automation, we're being forced to confront this uncomfortable truth. The question is: what happens when these jobs are no longer necessary to prop up the system? What happens when the cracks they've been papering over are finally exposed?

The AI Revolution

Now, you've probably heard a lot about how AI is going to replace millions of jobs. And that's true. But I think there's something even bigger happening here.

AI isn't just replacing jobs. It's fundamentally changing the relationship between humans and work. It's enabling creators and builders to do things they never could before, without needing to hire huge teams.

Imagine a world where anyone with an idea can bring it to life, where we're free to create, to innovate, to solve real problems instead of shuffling papers and attending pointless meetings.

That's the world we're heading towards. And yeah, it's scary. Change always is. But it's also incredibly exciting.

This shift reminds me of Sahil Lavingia's journey with Gumroad. He started with the goal of building a billion-dollar company, but ended up creating something different - a sustainable business that prioritizes value creation over value capture. As he puts it, "I am now more focused on creating value than capturing it. I still want to have as large an impact as possible, but I don't need to create it directly or capture it in the form of revenue and valuation."

This perspective is crucial as we navigate the AI revolution. We might need to redefine what success looks like in this new world. It may not be about building the next tech giant, but about creating tools and platforms that empower individuals and small teams to do amazing things.

Žižek has another quote that I think is relevant here:

"We feel free because we lack the very language to articulate our unfreedom."

For so long, we've been trapped in this system of employment, of trading our time for money, that we can barely conceive of another way of existing. But that's about to change. AI is not just freeing us from certain types of work; it's potentially freeing us from our limited conception of what work and success can be.

As Lavingia learned, "There's nothing wrong with trying to build the next Microsoft. I personally don't think billionaires are evil. And there's a part of me that wishes I was still on that path. But for better or worse, I'm on this one now." In the same way, as we move into this AI-driven future, we might find ourselves on unexpected paths. The key will be to remain open to new definitions of success and impact.

The Hero's Journey

Now, let's take a step back and look at this from a different perspective. Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, talked about something called the "Hero's Journey." It's a common pattern in stories across cultures and throughout history - the hero leaves their ordinary world, faces challenges, and returns transformed.

For many of us, our careers have been our Hero's Journey. We leave the comfort of school or home, face the challenges of the working world, and hope to return successful and transformed. But in our current "hustle and grind" culture, this journey often leads to burnout and chronic exhaustion, especially for those labeled as "gifted" or high achievers.

This brings to mind David McKerracher's concept of "Timenergy" - the combination of energy and time with the potential to repeatedly sacrifice towards building sustained symbolic and material value for oneself and communities of recognition or care. In our traditional work paradigm, we often deplete our timenergy in pursuit of external achievements, leaving little for personal growth and community building.

But what happens when that familiar journey is no longer available? When traditional employment disappears or transforms radically due to AI and automation?

This is where it gets interesting. Because I think we're on the cusp of a collective Hero's Journey. As a society, we're being forced out of our comfort zone, out of the familiar world of 9-to-5 jobs and steady paychecks. We're entering the unknown, facing the challenge of redefining what work means in a world where traditional employment may no longer be the norm.

This new journey isn't about climbing corporate ladders or accumulating wealth. Instead, it's about reclaiming our timenergy to "discover talents, develop non job-related skills, or become anything beyond a worker or middle manager," as McKerracher puts it. It's about shifting from a utilitarian view of education and work to one that values scholē - the leisure time necessary for personal cultivation and the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.

And just like in any good story, this journey isn't going to be easy. There will be obstacles, setbacks, moments of doubt and fear. We'll need to confront our societal obsession with productivity and redefine what success looks like. But there's also the potential for incredible growth and transformation - not just as individuals, but as a society.

This collective journey offers us the opportunity to create a world where we have the timenergy to truly appreciate the finer arts, explore and cultivate our talents for their own sake, and contribute to higher communities and cultures. It's a journey towards a more human-centered economy, where our value isn't determined solely by our productive output, but by our capacity for creativity, connection, and personal growth.

The Shadow of Work

Jung also talked about the concept of the "shadow" - the parts of ourselves that we repress or deny. I think as a society, we've created a collective shadow around work. We've repressed our dissatisfaction, our feeling that something isn't right about the way we work. We've denied the toll that our work culture takes on our mental health, our relationships, our very sense of self.

This shadow manifests in various ways: the Sunday night anxiety, the quiet resentment towards our jobs, the nagging feeling that we're wasting our lives in pursuit of someone else's definition of success.

Now, as the nature of work changes, that shadow is coming to light. We're being forced to confront some uncomfortable truths about our relationship with work. The rise of AI and automation is making us question the very foundation of our work-centric society.

Jacques Lacan, the French psychoanalyst, offers an interesting perspective on this. He said, "What you aspire to as revolutionaries is a new master. You will get one." As we seek to overthrow our current work paradigm, we must be careful not to simply replace it with a new form of tyranny. The challenge is not just to change the nature of work, but to fundamentally alter our relationship with it.

But here's the thing about shadows: when we confront them, when we integrate them, that's where real growth happens. That's where we find new possibilities. By acknowledging the parts of our work life that we've repressed, we open up the possibility of creating a new relationship with work.

This process isn't easy, but it offers the potential for profound transformation. It could lead us to a more balanced, fulfilling relationship with our labor - one that leaves room for rest, for creativity, for connection. It could help us create a world where work is a part of life, not the whole of it.

The Great Reimagining

So what does all this mean for the future? Well, I think we're entering a period of great reimagining. We're going to have to rethink everything we thought we knew about work, about value, about how we spend our time.

Žižek says:

"We should not be afraid to dream big, but we should be even less afraid to transform these dreams into reality."

This is our chance to dream big. To imagine a world where we're not defined by our jobs, where we're free to pursue what truly matters to us. A world where we can focus on building relationships, creating art, solving real problems, instead of just trying to make it to Friday.

But it's not enough just to dream. We need to be ready to transform these dreams into reality. And that's going to take work - real work, not the pseudo-activity we've become so accustomed to.

The Path Forward

So what can we do? How do we prepare for this new world?

First, we need to start thinking differently about work. We need to stop defining ourselves by our jobs and start thinking about the value we can create, regardless of whether it fits into a traditional "job" or not.

We need to be ready to adapt, to learn new skills, to find new ways of creating value in a world where traditional employment might not be the norm.

We need to confront our shadows - our fears about change, our attachment to the old ways of doing things. We need to be willing to step into the unknown.

And most importantly, we need to start imagining what a post-work world could look like. Because it's coming, whether we're ready for it or not.

A Personal Journey

Let me share a bit of my own journey here. I only started grappling with these ideas after losing my corporate job last year. It was then that I realized I had built my whole identity around my position. The loss felt like staring into an abyss.

When you're in the thick of corporate life, it's easy to get caught up in the rat race, to define yourself by your title, your salary, your place in the hierarchy. Losing that was terrifying, but it also forced me to confront some hard truths about work and identity.

As I've dug deeper into these ideas, as I've confronted my own shadows around work, I've found something unexpected: a sense of possibility. It's like I'm rediscovering parts of myself that I had forgotten or pushed aside in the pursuit of corporate success.

I've started to imagine a life not constrained by the 9-to-5 grind. A life where I can pursue my passions, contribute to society in meaningful ways, and still have time for the people and things that matter most to me.

It hasn't been easy. I've had to unlearn a lot of what I thought I knew about success and value. I've had to face my fears about financial security, about my place in society. But with each step, I feel like I'm getting closer to something real, something authentic.

The Collective Journey

And here's the thing: I don't think I'm alone in this journey. I think we're all on it, whether we realize it or not. As the nature of work changes, we're all being called to reimagine our lives, our societies, our very concept of what it means to be human.

It's a collective Hero's Journey. We're leaving the familiar world of traditional employment, facing the challenges of a rapidly changing economy, and we have the opportunity to return transformed - not just as individuals, but as a society.

Žižek reminds us:

"The true ethical test is not only the readiness to save victims, but also - even more, perhaps - the ruthless dedication to annihilating those who made them victims."

In this context, I interpret this as a call to not just help those displaced by these changes, but to actively work to dismantle the systems that have trapped us in unfulfilling, often meaningless jobs. To create something better in its place.

Conclusion

I don't have all the answers. Nobody does. We're entering uncharted territory here. But I do know this: the future of work is going to be radically different from anything we've known before. And if we approach it with open minds and a willingness to embrace change, it could be something truly amazing.

Yes, the job market feels weird right now. It feels broken. Because it is. The old systems are crumbling. But maybe, just maybe, what comes next will be so much better than what came before.

So let's embrace this journey. Let's face our shadows, confront our fears, and dare to imagine a new way of living and working. Let's be the heroes of our own story, and co-authors of a new chapter in human history.

The future of work isn't just about work. It's about life. Your life. My life. All of our lives.

Let's make it count.