concept like the Japanese term kokoro is difficult. It means heart, spirit, mind, and self. It’s the inner and outer expression of who we are and what we’re capable of. Even if you don’t speak Japanese, the word is likely to resonate.

The alternative is to measure the health and output of the culture itself. To hold the leaders accountable for enrollment, commitment, and the rigor of shipping work that makes an impact.

Agency gives us control over our time, and it encourages us to choose what our contribution looks like. Because it demands responsibility and some authority, agency is antithetical to controlled industrial piecework.

But these easy measurements can be a crutch, and we may end up failing to talk about the things that really matter.

A significant job requires us to be in two places at once. Our work is to acknowledge the present situation while working hard to change the circumstances and status of those we serve.

Start with a problem, and make it as simple as possible. Then clarify the goal. This work you’re doing, the change you seek to make—who is it for and what is it for?

Our job is to create a change, to make things better, to show up with something that was worth the effort it took to create. Profit may be a by-product of our work, but it’s not the only way we measure it.

The same compartmentalization and management mindset has been applied to doctors, to sound engineers, and even to individuals on social media. This is what happens when you race to the bottom. It requires that you see humans as resources, not as people, and that the factory (in whatever form) use that resource for maximum short-term efficiency.

What if we built an organization people would genuinely miss if it were gone?