'Quiet Desperation' and the 'Great Resignation'

The words of Henry David Thoreau are incredibly prescient. He lived in the 1800s but many of his quotes are very relevant to today's issues. His commentary on society and the wrong direction it's going is even more necessary to read today. I'm attempting to bring his words back to life and reflect on how we can live them today.

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things. When we consider what is the chief end of man and what are the true necessaries and means of life, it appears as if men had deliberately chosen the common mode of living because they preferred it to any other. Yet they honestly think there is no choice left. It is never too late to give up our prejudices."

The above quote is from page 11 of Walden. Page 11 is pretty fire if you end up reading it yourself. It's within the first chapter called 'Economy' which comes in pretty hot right out of the gate slinging mud at his societies unhealthy relationship with the notion of work. While the economy was nothing like it is today, the idea that you learned a craft and then earned money to do it day in and day out was still very well established. What was also established was that people didn't enjoy work, but they had to do it anyway because that's just the way it worked.

Fast forward to today, it's safe to say, it hasn't gotten better... if not worse. We pretty much put our head down and kept working towards that American dream for the ensuing century and a half. Only very recently with a pandemic that made us question everything, did a large amount of people realize they hated what they did every day. We are now living in the 'Great Resignation'. Thoreau would diagnose that as a mass confirmation of desperation. Many are seeking a job that can stoke their passions and give them purpose in life. Business leaders that know this tell tales of how they can pursue these passions at their company. Once on the other side of the proverbial fence, not much changes unfortunately.

As a business leader, this disappoints and frustrates me, especially because I can see a better way. My company, Chalet, makes our living amongst the natural spaces that Thoreau called us to. I may be biased, but it's simply a better way to spend your days than behind a computer screen the entire time, slowly succumbing to muscle atrophy, back problems, anxiety and despair. But even I know we have room to improve in helping our team find their individual passions and fostering that within Chalet.

I don't have an answer to this today, but this is something I think about constantly. The answer isn't quite to let everyone do whatever they want all the time because there's a business to run. Everyone needs to take part in some of the tedium of their respective domains that is required to keep things running smoothly. However, if we can paint the picture of our purpose that we can all march towards, we're able to wake up each morning fired up about what we do. That's all we can ask! Easier said that done, but it would make Henry produ.