Twenty-First-Century Meaning Challenges of Work

Abstract

Today’s ubiquitous meaning issues being addressed in work life are managed in the context of five global challenges. Von Devivere explores these powerful factors and their influence on the current search for meaning: Megatrends have emerged and are shaping our future. Humankind is confronted with diverse global societal challenges and crises. Work life in a VUCA world of growing volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity can be summarized in four western world challenges. Von Devivere diagnoses the twenty-first-century gap between the present model of ever more growth with finite resources, which is bound to hit the wall, and the undeniable signs of a new twenty-first-century work paradigm emerging, when organizations demonstrate a new breakthrough in serving their communities, living meaning in their work and service for others.