Meaningful Work Matters

Eudaimonic by Design
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Welcome to the Meaningful Work Matters podcast from Eudaimonic by Design. On this podcast, our host Andrew Soren dives into the world of meaningful work, exploring its complexities and examining its impact on people and the organizations they’re a part of. Each episode features insightful conversations with cutting edge experts on the latest research and practice around meaningful work. Whether you're passionate about creating impact, or you're a leader looking to cultivate a positive work culture, this podcast will give you ideas, frameworks and tools to unlock potential and design work so that its fulfilling, impactful and supports our wellbeing. Subscribe or follow us now, and let's make meaningful work MATTER.

  1. 2일 전

    From Well-Being to Well-Doing: Brian Little on the Personal Projects That Shape Our Lives

    In this episode, Andrew Soren of Eudaimonic by Design sits down with personality psychologist Brian Little for a conversation that moves from a mishelved library book to a hockey metaphor for performance reviews, and lands, more than once, on the difference between well-being and well-doing. Brian's research looks past personality traits and into the personal projects that actually organize a life: the things we're trying to sustain, repair, protect, or build, whether that's taking out the garbage or trying to shift an entire field of thought. What makes a project worth studying, in his framework, is that it's personally salient. It reveals what someone actually cares about, not just how they compare to everyone else on a trait scale. Andrew and Brian dig into why meaningful work can be harder to sustain than it looks: a project can matter enormously and still become unmanageable, especially when the surrounding environment isn't built to support it. Brian also introduces free traits and restorative niches. He closes with a definition of flourishing that reframes the whole conversation: not a feeling, but the sustainable pursuit of the core projects in our lives. Key Takeaways Personality can be understood at three levels (how we're like all people, like some people, and like no one else) and traits really only describe the middle level.Personal projects reveal what someone is actually working on beneath their visible role or behaviour.A project can be highly meaningful and still contribute to burnout if it isn't manageable. Meaning and manageability are separate dimensions, and both matter.Standard performance conversations tend to reward "goals" and miss "assists," the support, trust-building, and behind-the-scenes work that make outcomes possible.Free traits explain why people act out of character for people or projects they care about, and why that performance carries a real cost.Restorative niches, the ways people recover after stretching beyond their natural tendencies, aren't one-size-fits-all.Asking about someone's personal projects can surface deeply private material, so leaders need trust and restraint, not a checklist. Why This Episode Matters Most conversations about meaningful work stay at the level of purpose, motivation, or engagement. Brian Little's research goes a layer deeper, into the ongoing, often invisible projects that structure someone's day. The colleague who seems checked out in a meeting might be trying to get a diagnosis for a sick kid. The manager who's uncharacteristically sharp might be holding together a role that's stopped being sustainable. For leaders, coaches, and anyone thinking seriously about meaningful work, this episode makes the case for paying attention to the project behind the performance, and building workplaces that make caring about that project actually possible. About Our Guest Brian R. Little is a personality psychologist whose research has helped shape the study of personality, motivation, personal projects, and human flourishing. He earned his Ph.D. in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and has taught or lectured at Cambridge, Oxford, Carleton, McGill, and Harvard. He's best known for developing Personal Projects Analysis, a framework for understanding the personally meaningful pursuits that structure a life, along with his related work on free traits and restorative niches. He is the author of Me, Myself, and Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being. Mentioned in This Episode Personal Projects Analysis, Brian Little's framework for studying personally meaningful pursuitsMe, Myself, and Us by Brian R. LittleWalter Mischel's Personality and Assessment and the person-situation debateGordon Allport, one of the founders of personality psychologyKen Sheldon's research on goals, striving, and well-beingAlbert Bandura's work on self-efficacyAdam Grant's work on giving and contributionResearch on "mattering," including work associated with Isaac PrilleltenskyFree traits and restorative niches, Brian Little's own concepts

    From Well-Being to Well-Doing: Brian Little on the Personal Projects That Shape Our Lives

  2. 7월 21일

    How Gratitude Makes Work More Sustainable: Ryan Fehr on Social Burnout and the Relationships That Make Work Meaningful

    In this episode, Andrew Soren is joined by organizational psychologist Ryan Fehr to explore how gratitude and social sustainability shape the quality of our relationships at work, and why those relationships are central to whether work feels meaningful, energizing, and fair. Ryan is a Professor of Management and Michael G. Foster Endowed Professor at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, where his research focuses on building positive relationships, leadership, gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, solitude, and social burnout. In this conversation, he helps clarify what gratitude really is: a feeling of appreciation for benefits that come from outside ourselves. At work, that means recognizing the ways other people contribute to our progress, wellbeing, and sense of belonging. Andrew and Ryan dig into why gratitude can be so powerful in organizations, and why it can backfire when it feels forced, uneven, or disconnected from fairness and respect. They also discuss Ryan’s work on social sustainability: the ability to build relationships that energize us rather than exhaust us. This conversation offers a practical look at what it means to feel that we matter at work. And, you’ll learn what leaders, teams, and individuals can do to build relationships that are meaningful enough to sustain us. Key TakeawaysGratitude can strengthen workplace relationships by helping people feel seen, valued, and connected.Appreciation has to be authentic and fair. When gratitude is unevenly distributed, it can create resentment instead of belonging.Social sustainability is about building relationships that give energy rather than quietly draining it.Busy professionals may be less lonely than socially burned out. They are surrounded by interaction, but missing the kinds of connection that actually restore them. Why This Episode MattersMeaningful work depends on more than purpose or personal motivation. It is deeply shaped by the relationships around us. When people feel appreciated, treated fairly, and connected to others, work is more likely to feel energizing and worthwhile. When they feel unseen, overextended, or socially depleted, even meaningful work can become exhausting. Ryan Fehr’s research helps explain why gratitude, fairness, and social sustainability belong at the center of the conversation about meaningful work. About Our GuestRyan Fehr is a Professor of Management and Michael G. Foster Endowed Professor at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. His research focuses on building positive relationships in organizations, with particular emphasis on gratitude, forgiveness, compassion, leadership, solitude, and social burnout. He teaches courses in leadership, negotiation, personal change, positive organizational scholarship, and organizational development. Ryan also writes Sustainably Social, a Substack focused on evidence-based lessons for building relationships without burning out, and is the author of the forthcoming book I’d Love to, Just Not Today: Beat Social Burnout and Build Relationships That Don’t Exhaust You. Mentioned in This EpisodeConnect with Ryan at University of Washington School of BusinessSustainably Social by Ryan FehrGreater Good Science Center: Gratitude at WorkThree Research-Backed Tips for a Grateful WorkplaceThe Grateful Workplace: A Multilevel Model of Gratitude in OrganizationsI’d Love to, Just Not Today: Beat Social Burnout and Build Relationships That Don’t Exhaust You

    How Gratitude Makes Work More Sustainable: Ryan Fehr on Social Burnout and the Relationships That Make Work Meaningful

  3. 7월 7일

    Why Humor Matters at Work: Bea Bincze on Fun Framing, Perfectionism, and Making Meaningful Work Sustainable

    In this episode, Andrew Soren is joined by executive coach and humour ambassador Bea Bincze for a conversation about why humor, playfulness, and what she calls “fun framing” deserve a bigger place in how we think about meaningful work. Meaningful work often carries a lot of weight. It matters to us, and it asks a lot of us. In many cases, it pulls people toward seriousness, perfectionism, and a sense that if the work is important, it must also feel heavy. Drawing on her own journey from finance and executive leadership into coaching and humor-based facilitation, Bea argues that humor is more than a distraction from meaningful work. It can be one of the things that makes meaningful work more sustainable, creative, relational, and human. Together, Andrew and Bea explore how humor can reduce stress, soften perfectionism, strengthen psychological safety, and help people working in high-stakes environments cope more skillfully with challenge, failure, and suffering. They also talk about humergy, the energizing force humor brings into a room, and how leaders can create the kind of small, safe “micro experiments” that make more playfulness possible at work. Key TakeawaysHumor is not just about being a comedian. It is about creating moments of lightness, connection, perspective, and relief.Meaningful work can become heavy, and humor can help make it more sustainable without making it less serious.Bea’s concept of fun framing offers a way to reframe stressful or perfectionistic situations with more playfulness and flexibility.Humor can increase trust, creativity, team connection, and psychological safety.Leaders can create safer conditions for people to experiment with more warmth, levity, and human energy.In care work, education, coaching, and other purpose-driven settings, humor can be a powerful way to cope with stress and stay connected to others. Why This Episode MattersA lot of conversations about meaningful work focus on purpose, contribution, and impact. Those conversations matter, but they can also become heavy. This episode introduces a different ingredient: humor. Bea Bincze helps reframe humor as a practical leadership and wellbeing skill rather than something extra or trivial. For listeners doing serious, values-driven work, this conversation offers a reminder that joy, lightness, and laughter do not undermine meaning. They can help us carry it better. About Our GuestBea Bincze is an executive coach, trainer, speaker, and humor ambassador who helps leaders and teams use humor more intentionally to reduce stress, improve connection, and support healthier, more effective workplaces. Before moving into coaching, she worked in senior finance leadership roles, including as a CFO, and now brings that organizational experience into her work with leaders and teams. She is also the author of Perfectly Imperfect: Fun-Framing Playbook, a practical guide to reframing perfectionism, reducing stress, and laughing more in everyday life and work.

    Why Humor Matters at Work: Bea Bincze on Fun Framing, Perfectionism, and Making Meaningful Work Sustainable

  4. 6월 23일

    How to Design a More Meaningful Life and Work: Bill Burnett on Wonder, Community, and the Dark Side of Purpose

    In this episode of Meaningful Work Matters, host Andrew Soren is joined by Stanford design leader and life design pioneer Bill Burnett for a conversation about what it means to build a meaningful life, and why that question is bigger than work alone. Bill brings a design thinking lens to the topic meaning: how do we move beyond transactional living and create a life that feels psychologically rich, connected, and fully alive? Together, he and Andrew explore a set of practical mindsets that can help us approach our lives with more curiosity, flexibility, and intention. They also talk about an important tension in the meaning conversation: while meaningful work can be a powerful source of energy and purpose, it can also tip into obsession, burnout, and exploitation when our identities become too tightly wrapped around it. Bill offers a refreshing alternative that expands meaning beyond career success and into community, experimentation, and the relationships that shape who we become. Key Takeaways Meaningful work matters, but a meaningful life cannot rest on work alone.Design thinking offers a practical way to approach life: stay curious, prototype, and learn by trying things.Mindsets like wonder, radical acceptance, and availability can help us move out of purely transactional living and into richer experiences of meaning.The healthiest way to pursue meaningful work may be to stay fully engaged and calmly attached, committed, but not consumed.Formative communities play a critical role in a good life by helping us become the kinds of people we want to be.Too much meaning in work can have a dark side, including burnout, blurred boundaries, and vulnerability to exploitation. Why This Episode Matters A lot of conversations about meaning focus on finding the right job, the right purpose, or the right passion. This episode broadens that frame. Bill Burnett reminds us that meaning is not just something we discover once and secure forever. It is something we design over time through our attention, our relationships, our habits, and our willingness to stay open to what life is asking of us. For listeners who want meaningful work but also want a sustainable, psychologically rich life, this conversation offers both language and tools. About Our Guest Bill Burnett is an Adjunct Professor and Executive Director of the Life Design Lab at Stanford, where he has helped thousands of students and professionals apply design thinking to life and career decisions. Trained as a product designer, he has worked in both startups and Fortune 100 companies, including Apple, where he designed award-winning laptops, and in the toy industry, where he worked on Star Wars action toys. He is the co-author of Designing Your Life and Designing Your New Work Life, and his work bridges design, meaning, and human flourishing in ways that are both practical and deeply resonant. Mentioned in This Episode Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave EvansDesigning Your New Work Life by Bill Burnett and Dave EvansFully Alive by Design newsletterFree Life Design worksheets and tools

    How to Design a More Meaningful Life and Work: Bill Burnett on Wonder, Community, and the Dark Side of Purpose

  5. 6월 9일

    Why Self-Transcendence is the Missing Key to Meaningful Work: Lessons from Joffrey Fuhrer

    In this episode, Andrew is joined by psychology and philosophy researcher Joffrey Fuhrer to explore the critical role of self-transcendence and positive impact in experiencing meaningful work. Drawing on his empirical research into well-being and morality, Joffrey challenges the modern, highly individualized pursuit of happiness, arguing instead that true meaning requires an outward focus and a tangible contribution to others. Together, Andrew and Joffrey examine how the historical drift from collective well-being to self-centeredness has impoverished our experience of work, and how reintroducing pro-sociality and service can act as an antidote to existential burnout. Key TakeawaysMeaning in life and work is incomplete without actually having a positive impact. This is called self-transcendence, and it is often missing when we define or measure meaning in life.When we experience existential crises or meaningless work, we often collapse inward into a self-centred "black hole"; engaging in service forces an outward focus that restores our sense of mattering.The psychological feeling of meaning is distinct from an objectively meaningful life, which research shows is deeply tied to morality and pro-social behaviour rather than selfish pursuits.Self-transcendence at work doesn't require massive, consequential impact; it can be found in everyday moments of "flow" and small, intrinsically motivated acts of helping others. Why This Episode MattersModern workplace culture often treats well-being and meaning as purely individual pursuits—finding your personal "why" or optimizing your own happiness. This conversation challenges that isolation, revealing how our intense focus on the self might actually be what keeps us from feeling that our work matters. By distinguishing between simply feeling valuable and tangibly contributing to a collective, this episode reframes meaning as a deeply pro-social act, offering a pathway out of the self-centered exhaustion of modern work. About Our GuestJoffrey Fuhrer is a researcher in psychology and philosophy whose work explores the nature of the good life, meaning, well-being, and morality. Drawing on both empirical research and philosophical inquiry, he examines how self-transcendence, prosocial behavior, and positive impact shape our experience of meaning in life and work. He is currently leading a research project funded by the Young Universities for the Future of Europe initiative. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

    Why Self-Transcendence is the Missing Key to Meaningful Work: Lessons from Joffrey Fuhrer

  6. 5월 15일

    Building a We Culture: In memory of Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky

    A Note Before You Listen We are sharing this episode in memory of Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky, who passed away on May 7, 2026. Isaac was a giant in the field of positive psychology — a scholar, a humanist, and a tireless advocate for fairness and well-being. He touched the lives of tens of thousands of students, researchers, and practitioners around the world, and his influence on this podcast, and on our work, runs deep. We are grateful this conversation exists, and we hope it introduces him — or reintroduces him — to a new generation of listeners. About This Episode Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky was Mautner Endowed Chair in Community Well-Being and Professor of Educational and Psychological Studies at the University of Miami — as well as an internationally renowned keynote speaker, author, researcher, and well-being advocate. In this conversation, Andrew and Isaac explore the importance of meaningful work and mattering. Drawing from decades of scholarly research on justice, fairness, and well-being, Isaac makes the case that we cannot thrive as individuals unless the systems around us are designed to help us do so. He unpacks what it truly means to feel valued through recognition while adding value through meaningful contribution — and why these are among the most overlooked drivers of workplace engagement. For people managers and leaders, this episode offers concrete ways to foster what Isaac called a "WE culture" — where fairness, dignity, and belonging are prioritized over individual pursuits, and where everyone has a fighting chance to matter. There is no wellness without fairness. That was Isaac's north star. We think you'll feel it in every minute of this conversation.

    Building a We Culture: In memory of Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky

  7. 4월 20일

    Why Purpose Beats Passion at Work: Lessons from Rodney Schmaltz

    In this episode, Andrew is joined by Dr. Rodney Schmaltz, a psychology professor at MacEwan University, to explore what the evidence actually says about productivity, meaningful work, and how we structure our days, and where the popular advice gets it wrong. Rod's perspective is shaped by two research streams that turn out to have more in common than they first appear: studying how people thrive at work, and studying why people believe things that aren't supported by evidence. That combination gives him an unusually clear-eyed view of the productivity myths and workplace assumptions that so many of us accept without question. Together, Andrew and Rod move from myth-busting to a set of research-backed principles called Boice's Rules, originally developed for academics struggling with procrastination and writing, that turn out to apply remarkably well to anyone trying to do meaningful work more sustainably. Key TakeawaysPurpose tends to be a more durable source of motivation than enjoyment, and recognizing why a task matters can carry us through the parts of work we don't love.The way we begin our workday sets its tone more than we realize; even a small ritual of easing in rather than diving straight into demands can shift the entire day.Small, consistent bursts of effort (or, what Boice called "brief daily sessions") consistently outperform the intense, last-minute pushes most of us rely on.Knowing good work habits and actually building them into your environment are very different things, and the gap between them is where most advice falls flat.Why This Episode MattersMany people experience frustration that they're not doing enough, working the right way, or finding enough meaning in what they do — and a steady stream of productivity content tends to make that worse rather than better. Rod takes those claims seriously enough to test them, and found that the path to a better workday is less about discipline or passion and more about small, deliberate design choices that actually hold up under scrutiny. About Our GuestDr. Rodney Schmaltz is a psychology professor at MacEwan University in Edmonton, where he teaches and researches at the intersection of workplace productivity and the science of belief. His work focuses on evidence-based approaches to thriving at work, alongside strategies to help people become better, more critical consumers of information, including the kind that shows up in our LinkedIn feeds.

    Why Purpose Beats Passion at Work: Lessons from Rodney Schmaltz

  8. 4월 6일

    Making Well-Being a Priority in Professional Services: Lessons from the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC)

    In this episode, Andrew moderates a live panel hosted by the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC), a professional association representing over 1,800 IP lawyers, patent agents, and trademark agents across Canada, now celebrating its 100th year. The conversation brings together three IP professionals to explore what thriving actually looks like inside a demanding, high-stakes profession, not in theory, but in the day-to-day realities of the work. IP professionals face real and familiar pressures: billable hours, client expectations, collaboration across competitive environments, and the challenge of finding meaning in highly specialized, often invisible work. This episode grew out of IPIC's strategic commitment to making well-being a priority, and what emerges is a frank, grounded conversation about what it actually takes to thrive. Together, Andrew and the panelists examine how well-being shifts across a career, what it means to struggle well rather than perform happiness, and how the profession's culture, both its demands and its community, shapes the conditions for a life of meaningful work. Key TakeawaysWell-being is not one-size-fits-all. Understanding what “it” means for you is the only way to be "in it to win it."The shift from individual contributor to leader often requires finding new sources of meaning, learning to derive satisfaction from others' success rather than your own technical output.Creating "brave spaces" rather than safe spaces means making room for difficult conversations, not despite a commitment to well-being, but because of it.Struggling well is different from being happy, and the most powerful thing a team can offer someone going through something hard is not positivity, but presence.Why This Episode MattersProfessional services environments are often places where well-being initiatives can feel like add-ons or perks masking unchanged structures and cultures. This conversation pushes back on that, not with sweeping prescriptions, but with honest reflection from professionals who are living these questions. About the Panellists and IPICIPIC is Canada's professional association for intellectual property professionals, representing lawyers, patent agents, and trademark agents nationwide. The panellists, Dominique Hussey, Jaime-Lynn Kraft, and Ryan Holland, bring perspectives spanning senior leadership, mid-career practice, and earlier-stage professional development within the IP field. This conversation reflects IPIC's broader commitment, championed during Nathaniel Lipkus' presidency, to making well-being a defining feature of a world-class IP community.

    Making Well-Being a Priority in Professional Services: Lessons from the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC)
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Welcome to the Meaningful Work Matters podcast from Eudaimonic by Design. On this podcast, our host Andrew Soren dives into the world of meaningful work, exploring its complexities and examining its impact on people and the organizations they’re a part of. Each episode features insightful conversations with cutting edge experts on the latest research and practice around meaningful work. Whether you're passionate about creating impact, or you're a leader looking to cultivate a positive work culture, this podcast will give you ideas, frameworks and tools to unlock potential and design work so that its fulfilling, impactful and supports our wellbeing. Subscribe or follow us now, and let's make meaningful work MATTER.

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  • 제작진
    Eudaimonic by Design
  • 방송 연도
    2023년 - 2026년
  • 에피소드
    74
  • 등급
    전체 연령 사용가
  • 웹사이트 보기
    Meaningful Work Matters

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