What's your cathedral?

One of my favorite topics is culture and incentives, which I’ve written about before. Culture is the name we give to all the behavior of a group, which is mainly influenced by incentives.

Part of your job as a leader is to create the culture by aligning values, incentives, and your own behavior. But when it comes to getting the day-to-day work done, ordinary incentives aren’t always enough.

That’s where the cathedral comes in.

This passage from Simon Sinek’s book “Start with Why” stuck with me:

Consider the story of two stonemasons. You walk up to the first stonemason and ask, “Do you like your job?” He looks up at you and replies, “I’ve been building this wall for as long as I can remember. The work is monotonous. I work in the scorching hot sun all day. The stones are heavy and lifting them day after day can be backbreaking. I’m not even sure if this project will be completed in my lifetime. But it’s a job. It pays the bills.” You thank him for his time and walk on.

About thirty feet away you walk up to a second stonemason. You ask him the same question, “Do you like your job?” He looks up and replies, “I love my job. I’m building a cathedral. Sure, I’ve been working on this wall for as long as I can remember and yes, the work is sometimes monotonous. I work in the scorching hot sun all day. The stones are heavy and lifting them day after day can be backbreaking. I’m not even sure if this project will be completed in my lifetime. But I’m building a cathedral.”

What I love about this is how well it illustrates the difference between a “transactional relationship” to work and a “mission-oriented relationship” to work.

I’ve previously warned about passion at work, and I still believe it’s a bad idea to get emotionally tied up in your job. At the same time, the best motivation to do awesome work is to have some greater purpose.

It can become dangerous for you, the employee, if your purpose becomes an obsession, but purpose by itself is a valuable tool.

The first stonemason in the story looks at his job as transactional. He performs work, which he finds grueling, and he is paid money. The money is enough to make the toil bearable.

The second stonemason looks at his job as an honor. The outcome of his work, which he admits he may not live to see, is worthwhile in his eyes. He doesn’t even mention the money, because the money isn’t the point.

This is the same reason one Wikipedia editor has submitted over 35,000 edits to Boston transit system pages over the last 16 years. Nobody gets paid to update Boston transit system pages. They do it because, to them, it’s important.

There’s one crucial detail to take note of. The scale and impact of the purpose is irrelevant. Only its importance to the individual matters.

While the second stonemason is moved to be contributing to a magnificent structure of cultural and religious gravity, the Wikipedia editor’s labor is poured into something substantially less visible or grand. What matters is what it means to you.

It isn’t even necessary for the practical outcome of the work to meet any criteria; some people are motivated to contribute because it provides personal growth, results in acknowledgment, or allows them to create value within a team they respect and enjoy working with.

By discovering the value each person finds in their work, or helping them to find it, and simply reminding them periodically how what they’re doing connects to that, you will create an unstoppable force.

Questions for you

1. What are each of your team members’ “cathedrals?”

2. What is your cathedral?

3. How will you connect each of your team member’s work to their purpose this week?

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