Changing the world by trying. Living passionately. And a bit on student life.

First off, props go to Michael Bungay Stanier for first bringing up this idea.

Bad work is the boring stuff. It consumes energy and leads to nothing productive. Endless meetings. Paperwork. Bureaucracy. Works cited pages. But, a reasonable amount of bad work is necessary for organizations to function.

Good work, on the other hand, is the stuff you’ve been trained to do all your life. It’s what’s on your job description. Powerpoint presentations. Answering the phone. Or writing that next paper.

Good work is confortable and seductive. Day in, day out. Good work is also endless and overwhelming. You’ve got way more things to check off on that to-do list than you can possibly manage. The goal is to get through stuff. When there’s a problem, just throw more work at it and everything will fix itself.

And then there’s Great Work. Great Work is challenging and meaningful. It’s the stuff you do on weekends because you love it. Great Work is that event you organized for handicapped children. Great Work is this blog. Great Work is that park you helped build. It matters to you and lights you up.

You probably don’t do Great Work because good work overwhelms you. The thing is, Great Work takes less time than good work. It stimulates and makes you want to do more. Great Work is incredibly challenging. And risky.

But you could always follow suit and make a career out of good work.