Good Work, Done Well

Part of a series of letters to my Marketing Team at Apptegy

August 28, 2024 — Good Work, Done Well

I started writing this letter a few weeks ago. It was about running, that we’re in a last mile of sorts and that’s the hardest mile to run…but using another sports analogy was just…well…it felt worse than running.

Instead, I wanted to share a few lines from an author and poet I return to regularly, David Whyte.

In his book Crossing the Unknown Sea, he writes:

At its simplest, good work is work that makes sense, and that grants sense and meaning to the one who is doing it and to those affected by it.

And then there’s this line, which lives rent free in my brain most days:

Good work, done well for the right reasons and with an end in mind.

What I didn’t realize when I started re-writing this was just how closely those lines map to what we defined as our team values:

• Creativity: Solving problems, creating opportunities, looking at things in new ways
• Intentionality: Doing our work with purpose and with others in mind
• Accountability: Carrying our work through to the end

The month ahead is full for each and every one of us. There are big projects and small tasks. Over the coming weeks we will have a major conference, new publications going live, new hires coming on, and work that spans strategy to spreadsheet. Work like this is exciting and memorable. But to do it requires tasks that are sometimes boring and forgettable. Regardless of whether you’re crafting a strategy or cycling between copying and pasting, I hope you keep creativity, intention, and accountability in mind.

Today I’m thinking particularly about intentionality. Why do we rarely stop to ask why? Why are we doing what we’re doing in the way we’re doing it?

Asking why is difficult, and we don’t always have a good answer. But it’s a good opportunity for us to see our work in action and to see answers to that small yet huge question of Why?

I’m more convinced than ever that our work has meaning. It feels different for me now than it did a year ago. I’m starting to see meaning beyond our team. I am seeing (and believing) we are helping people make their strengths more visible. We’re helping a lone communications director feel a bit more seen and empowered.

Five weeks from now, I hope we all can look back and see how much we accomplished in a short time together.

And if we do it right, we’ll all be able to take a deep breath and say with confidence: Good work, done well for the right reasons with an end in mind.