The Story
When Diane became an internal audit manager at a large manufacturing company, she thought she knew her role: lead a team of Certified Public Accountants, oversee audits, and keep the books clean. A lifelong fan of detective novels, she loved the investigative side of the work, following the paper trail, uncovering anomalies, and asking the right questions.
Then came 2002. The accounting firm Arthur Andersen was indicted for its role in the Enron scandal, erasing the savings of thousands of innocent employees. Diane was horrified. At that moment, she reframed her work entirely. She was no longer simply managing audits; she was protecting the company’s future and the livelihoods of the people in it.
Her sense of purpose expanded beyond her job description. She began joining outreach programmes, speaking in schools to inspire the next generation of accountants, especially young women. She convinced her supervisors that these visits were not only personally fulfilling but also valuable for the firm’s reputation.
Diane was practising something researchers call job crafting: quietly reshaping the contours of her role so that it aligned more closely with her values, passions, and sense of mission.
Work and Meaning
Work, for most of us, is a significant part of life. We spend a great deal of time doing it. Yet not everyone is fortunate enough to have a job that naturally provides a sense of meaning and purpose. For many, work is primarily about utility: putting food on the table and keeping a roof over our heads.
But even in these situations, a person can respond actively and wrest meaning from what might seem meaningless. The job itself is not always what counts; it is the manner in which we do the work. Within each of us lie personal qualities and unique strengths that can be expressed in the work we do. When we do that, the work becomes more than a pay packet; it becomes a canvas for meaning.
This is where job crafting comes in: a way to actively shape the work you already have so it becomes a truer reflection of who you are.
What is Job Crafting?
Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton define job crafting as “the physical and cognitive changes individuals make in the task or relational boundaries of their work”. Unlike traditional job design, which flows from managers downwards, job crafting starts with the individual. It is about altering the contours of your job to fit your strengths, passions, and values.
It can take three main forms, and you do not need explicit permission from your boss to begin:
Task crafting: changing what you do, how you do it, or how much time you spend on certain activities.
Example: A compound mixer at Burt’s Bees had little scope to alter the strict formulas he followed, but he was curious about the plant’s equipment design team. He began attending their meetings during his lunch break, learnt their methods, and eventually helped to onboard new hires with this knowledge. His official duties remained the same, yet he had added a layer of work that excited him and made him indispensable.Relational crafting: changing who you interact with and how those relationships function.
Example: A consultant with a passion for positive organisational scholarship made a habit of arriving early to client meetings, using the time to learn about people’s lives outside work. Over time, she became the team’s “energy barometer”, sensing when morale was low and lifting it in subtle ways. She did not wait for HR to assign her this role; she created it through the relationships she built.Cognitive crafting: reframing how you interpret the purpose of your work.
Example: A hospital cleaner reimagined her job as part of the healing process, not just sanitisation. She paid particular attention to high-touch surfaces during flu season, chatted with lonely patients, and anticipated small needs before anyone asked.
Often, people combine these forms without realising it. Diane reframed her work after the Enron scandal (cognitive), added community outreach to her duties (task), and built relationships with schools and future accountants (relational).
Over twenty years of research across hospitals, factories, classrooms and sales teams shows that such self-initiated changes are widespread and effective. Employees who craft their jobs often report higher engagement and performance, a stronger sense of identity, and greater satisfaction, even without formal changes to pay or authority.
How to Craft Your Job
“Men go forth to wonder at the heights of mountains, the huge waves of the sea, the broad flow of rivers, the vast compass of the ocean, the courses of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.” – St Augustine
Job crafting begins with the opposite of this neglect. To reshape your work in a way that is meaningful, you first need to understand yourself: your values, your strengths, and the activities that make you feel most alive. Socrates put it more simply: to know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.
Without self-awareness, job crafting risks becoming a random rearrangement of tasks rather than a deliberate alignment between who you are and what you do. Begin by asking yourself:
What energises me and what drains me?
Which of my strengths are underused in my current role?
What values do I want to express through my work?
Once you know this, you can make changes, small or large, that bring your role into closer alignment with your unique fingerprint.
These changes do not need to be dramatic. Most job crafting begins in small acts of curiosity, connection, or reframing that ripple outward over time.
Practical steps include:
Map your current work. Write down your main tasks, relationships, and how you think about your work. Compare this to your strengths and values; look for gaps and overlaps.
Add or adapt one task. Start small by incorporating a project or responsibility that excites you and connects to your strengths.
Invest in key relationships. Spend more time with colleagues who inspire you or open new learning pathways.
Integrate your strengths. Find ways to use talents that your current job underutilises.
Reframe your purpose. Ask, “How does my work connect to something larger than myself?” and keep that frame in mind each day.
Conclusion
Viktor Frankl, the Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist, argued that meaning in life comes through work, love, and courage in the face of suffering. But meaning is not handed to us; it must be discovered, often in how we respond to life’s constraints.
Job crafting is the workplace expression of that responsibility. It is not about waiting for management to make your job more fulfilling. It is about taking ownership of how you show up, who you connect with, and the purpose you assign to your work.
Frankl wrote: “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” Even when you cannot change the core structure of your job, you can change how you relate to it, and in doing so, change the experience of your work entirely.
Diane’s title has not changed. Her salary has not changed. But her experience of work, and the experience she creates for others, has transformed. She is not simply managing audits; she is safeguarding people’s livelihoods and championing the next generation of her profession.
Like Diane, you may find that the job itself does not change, but you do. And in changing, you transform not only the work you do but the meaning it holds.
If your job is a canvas, what will you paint into it?
References:
This essay draws heavily from the research of Amy Wrzesniewski, currently at the Wharton School. Especially these studies and articles
DBN in Action
In this episode, of the Finding Meaning in Work Podcast, I speak with Bryony Cole, the founder of Future of Sex and the Sextech School
We chat about sex, tech, rebellion, and the winding road to meaningful work. Bryony joins me for a wide-ranging conversation about how she carved out a career in a space that didn’t really exist when she started.
We talk about growing up in suburban Melbourne, navigating private school expectations, and the moment she traded being the “golden girl” for someone willing to take risks and ask the questions others were too afraid to.
Bryony shares how her curiosity, and a healthy dose of rebellion, led her from Lonely Planet to Microsoft to eventually launching a global platform on the intersection of sexuality and technology.
We dive into what sextech actually is (spoiler: it’s way more than sex toys), why AI is showing up as a wingman in dating and therapy, and how to navigate shame, stigma, and self-doubt when building something unconventional. This one’s for anyone figuring it out as they go..and finding meaning along the way.
About Bryony
Bryony Cole, the world's foremost authority on sextech, explores how technology influences our most intimate moments.
Known for her top-rated podcast Future of Sex, she advises governments, tech giants, and entertainment leaders on emerging sextech trends.
Cole also founded Sextech School, a pioneering pre-accelerator program, now in its 15th cohort, guiding hundreds of entrepreneurs and innovators in the sexual wellness and technology space.
Her innovative research and international hackathons have garnered recognition from events like SXSW, WebSummit and Founders Forum.
Featured in The New York Times, Vogue, and Wired, and seen on Netflix, Bryony's work empowers women and redefines the future of sexuality.
Today, Future of Sex is a central media and resources hub for the sextech industry.
Her vision is to create a world where technology enhances human connection, and she actively works towards this by shaping policy, fostering innovation, and advocating for sexual well-being.
