A friend asked this question recently: What is your work philosophy? It took me a while to articulate this. Even now, I am not sure if this makes much sense, but … at a philosophical level, I think I try to optimize three criteria.

• Am I, on the whole, happy with the day-to-day experience of doing what I do?
• Am I doing enough to get better at what I do?
• Is being good at what I do going to make the world a better place?

I try to put myself in tasks and circumstances where the answers to these questions are positive. In repeatedly pursuing work according these criteria, I’ve found that I engage mostly in two types of work. I want to be either creating things, or learning things.

Make Stuff, or Learn to Make Stuff

Creating generally includes designing, programming, or writing. That’s stuff I love to do, and it’s what I could do all day if I didn’t pause to eat or sleep. I think that’s how you become good at your work. You keep doing it, practising it. It helps if its work you like and you are engaged in, because the work has its own momentum.

Learning is usually more nuanced. I am usually only interested in acquiring models and theories that help me explain/predict/affect phenomenon in the world better. I generally don’t care for trivia. Instead, I’m more interested in subjects like psychology, economics, and systems thinking. 

Philosophy is theoretical though, and not necessarily representative of how I actually work. My day-to-day thinking around my work tends to be more intuitive. With tasks like writing, programming, and design, I fall into a rhythm of iteration. Do a lot of work, discard a whole bunch of it, keep what’s interesting, show people, have conversations, digest insights, repeat, and not necessarily in that order. Most days I’m just feeling my way towards a sense of progress or discovery.

What is your work philosophy?

p.s. While you’re thinking about work philosophy, take a look at Umair Haque’s piece on Creating A Meaningful Life Through Meaningful Work.