This might be too close to a political statement, but I’ve been struck by Senator Sherrod Brown’s Dignity of Work Tour. Of course, for the political cynics among us – myself included – it seems to be no accident that his tour involves visiting four particular states, aside from his home state of Ohio, that have early 2020 presidential primaries – Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. But he says he isn’t yet running for President. Hmmm, what a set of coincidences!!
Nevertheless, there is something about the Dignity of Work that deeply resonates with me. Count me in as a political pragmatist. From my perspective, the evidence suggests that we have a long way to go to eradicate racism and sexism from our midst. We may still reach the day when everyone evaluates political candidates on the substance of their policy positions, rather than their race or gender, but probably not in my lifetime.
But I think that we can all agree that creating good jobs matters to everyone, of every political persuasion. Since the financial crisis of 2008, there has been a growing consensus on both the political left and the political right that we are living in a “rigged economy,” that the level of income inequality between the wealthy and those fighting to make it is unsustainable, and that we can and should do something to change this. Of course, the right and the left disagree on what policies will be most effective, but I come from the point-of-view that all progress begins with a clear problem definition that we can agree on.
So, I think actually think Senator Brown has put his finger on a real issue that we can do something about; an issue that should matter to everyone.
Forgotten Americans
I’m not the only one that thinks this. The economist Isabell Sawhill from the Brookings Institution recently wrote a thoughtful book on what we might call the dignity of work problem, The Forgotten Americans: An Economic Agenda for a Divided Nation.
In her first chapter, Dr. Sawhill begins with a practical case for focusing on the problem of good work:
“To the extent that there is an opening for a more centrist or sustainable agenda to take root, it is around economics and not culture. If there is a set of concerns that transcends party, it is the fact that too many Americans feel that they have been left behind by an economy undergoing rapid change. And the lack of well-paid jobs is at the heart of that problem.”
As you would expect from an economist, she uses compelling data to support her point:
- Since 1971, labor force participation rates have dropped dramatically for white working class (non-college-educated) men, from 93% to 80%
- In 1971, college-educated white men earned 46% more than white working-class men. By 2015, they were earning 77% more.
Of course, similar gaps exist between college-educated and non-college-educated men for blacks and Hispanics, but white-working-class men disproportionately adopt political positions designed to curb immigration from other countries. And, unlike other racial and ethnic groups, white working-class males (and females) have recently experienced a decline in their life expectancy in the United States.:
“Anne Case and Angus Deaton, two Princeton scholars, have found that midlife mortality rates actually increased for white men and women between 1999 and 2013- but only for those with less than a college degree. The increase among white working class was caused primarily by drugs and alcohol, suicide, chronic liver diseases, and cirrhosis. The authors call these ‘deaths of despair’”
This recent decline in life expectancy for the white working class is unique to the United States. It has not occurred in other advanced economies.
In other words, Houston we have a problem. Should we be surprised that so many people are so angry?
Dr. Sawhill does a credible job in the second half of her book at advocating for a set of national policies for addressing the vexing problem of how to create more good jobs. I recommend the book, although I don’t necessarily agree with every single one of her ideas.
What I think is interesting, perhaps even fascinating and fundamental, is the point where the “jobs problem” that Dr. Sawhill describes intersects with the “dignity of work problem” that Sherrod Brown is focusing on. Perhaps what we need are not just more jobs, but more dignified jobs; in other words, jobs that don’t drive people into more deaths of despair.
The Craft of Work
I think we would be better off if everyone, not just Sherrod Brown, went on their own personal Dignity of Work Tour. How many decently-paying, dignified jobs can we create? And not just for ourselves.
Sound crazy? Maybe it is, but it might be a better idea than waiting for the Federal Government to figure it out.
Recently, I started mentoring an elementary school principal in the Cincinnati Public Schools. I didn’t have a particularly noble reason for doing so; I owed the guy who runs the program, a friend of mine, a favor.
In my second session with the school principal, a very bright mid-thirties woman in her first year as the principal of a K-8 school in a worn-down part of the city, I started wondering exactly what I was doing there and who should be mentoring who. Just about then, as we talked about her latest bureaucratic quagmire, she started talking about the “craft of teaching.” The entire tone of the conversation totally changed, as she eloquently described a new teaching curriculum that she was attempting to implement. I made a few suggestions for how to get the more reluctant teachers on board. Hope had entered the room, as soon as she explained eloquently the craft of teaching to a guy who had last been in an elementary school a million years ago.
I don’t know how much money the school principal makes, certainly not enough, but she clearly views her job as a craft. She has a dignified job, largely because she chooses to view it that way. And what could be more important than creating the right learning environment for a bunch of impressionable elementary school kids?
What if we did more work to ensure that all elementary school principals had dignified jobs, and more resources to implement educational innovation? How much difference would that make? I’ve talked to several successful people who, when you ask them about their life journeys, cite a transformational teacher in their childhood.
Most of us think of plumbing as a relatively mundane job. That is, right up until we are the ones that need the plumber. From recent personal experience, I can assure you that if you have a problem with your plumbing system and only one toilet in your house, you don’t want “just a plumber.” You want someone who views their job as a craft.
In most countries in Europe, they don’t view being college-educated as a necessary requirement for finding dignified work. Instead, they route high school kids who aren’t wired for university life into government-sponsored vocational programs to let them find their craft. Before we conclude we can’t afford to be doing that, we should probably add up the costs of the unemployed, the under-employed, those headed for deaths-of-despair.
Dignified Workplaces
I’ve worked in dignified workplaces and not-so-dignified workplaces. I think it’s easy to tell the difference:
- Dignified workplaces are wired to treat everyone with respect; not-so-dignified workplaces are wired to line the pockets of a few people at or near the top.
- Dignified workplaces are places where people will take the time to listen to your ideas, and where the “best idea wins” no matter who has it. Not-so-dignified workplaces implicitly assume that those with more positional power will have the best ideas.
- Dignified workspaces reward those who work hard and achieve results with better jobs, and more opportunities to create their job; not-so-dignified workplaces demand about the same amount of work with no such promises.
- Dignified workplaces are places that understand the culture and work environment can always be improved; not-so-dignified workplaces tolerate many people who get short-term results at the expense of the culture.
None of this has anything to with whether or not someone has a college degree, or for that matter exactly what the organization does. The car dealership my father owned in Ohio, which I worked in during the summer, was a dignified workplace, because people helped each other out when that was needed – not because anyone there had a college degree.
My take is that dignified workplaces create more jobs absolutely, and certainly more dignified jobs.
Work and Meaning
It turns out that everyone wants their job to mean something. No one wants to be one of the Forgotten Americans, or wants their kid to become one.
I’m in favor of Dignity of Work Tours by well-meaning politicians and others in significant leadership roles. We certainly need to elevate our national conversation beyond walls and scandals and who won last news cycle. We certainly need structural and policy actions to solve the structural problems described by Dr. Sawhill in The Forgotten Americans.
But I also think there is a lot that we can do individually, and in the organizations where we spend our time, to honor the dignity of work. It’s not like dignity gets handed out to anyone when you walk in the door. Workplaces of dignity get created through individual actions, and not just the individual actions of employees. As a customer of any service, starting with my morning coffee, I can either treat those providing the service with dignity – or not. I think it makes a difference, both to them and to me.
Or, as Gandhi famously said, “you must be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
Leave a Reply