The Meaning and Purpose of Work: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Considering What Work Is for

Two crises of the 21st C, the 9/11 attacks and COVID-19 pandemic, led generations to prioritize the meaning and purpose of work. Simultaneously, social and environmental crises are threatening and technology is advancing. This book considers what these forces mean for whether work might give meaning and purpose to our lives or take it away.

Christopher Wong Michaelson is a philosopher with 25 years of experience advising business leaders pursuing meaning and providing work with a purpose. He is the Opus Distinguished Professor and Academic Director of the Melrose and The Toro Company Center for Principled Leadership at the University of St. Thomas and on the Business and Society faculty at NYU’s Stern School of Business. Christopher lives in Minneapolis with his wife, three kids, and two dogs.

Jennifer Tosti-Kharas is the Camilla Latino Spinelli Endowed Term Chair and Professor of Management at Babson College. She teaches, researches, and coaches others about what it means to craft a meaningful career, and appreciate the risks and rewards of work as a calling. Jen lives outside Boston with her husband and two kids.