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“To find meaning you just have to find the right environment. And if you don’t find it, then you can create it yourself.”
– Samuel Durand
Samuel Durand, Producer, Work in Progress
Samuel is the author and producer of the documentary Work in Progress. He has been exploring the future of work for the past 3 years, through a learning expedition and traveling the world meeting over 100 people in 13 different cities.He has shared his learnings through speaking, writing and now with his documentary.
Key Points
The key points summary are taken from the recording published on 11 October, 2021.
On the ideal future of work
I think that the future is already here, we just have to look (to the) right spot. My ideal future would be (to have) more trust in the relationships – the ‘yourself’ at work and at home (is the) same person.
I would say that any company, any person who wants (to go through) transformation, they go through the same process – it all starts with inspiration.
I would say in general, we don’t ask ourselves the right questions. When you choose a job, when you have to pick a job, you generally look at the companies around you in the same city, the new, or what are the offers right now around you have your friends, something to recommend to you, but you don’t really ask yourself what do I want to spend my time doing, (time) is the most precious thing you have.
And you don’t ask yourself this question. You just focus on the opportunities at the moment that you’re looking for, and I guess with the pandemic, when you were at home, you had some time to think about what you’re doing with your life. So people are asking the right questions […] Who do I want to work with? Do I want to get acknowledged for what I do? What is the kind of environment I want to be in? What is the bigger mission that I want to get involved with?
Learnings from Work In Progress
The documentary is trying to show the different ways to find meaning in work within the future of work. To find meaning you just have to find the right environments. And if you don’t find it, then you can create it yourself. [I have learned] I want freedom to choose my own clients, freedom to choose my own projects, and that’s the most important thing to me.
The fact that other people could be happy at work and that you shouldn’t just expect for the weekends or for the holidays or for the days off, and that you could find fulfilment and you can be happy going to work. […] And by watching the documentary, it gave them some ideas of the things that they can change to implement better practices. For their own life. And this is just the best. When you have someone who tells you that they are going to be happier because they changed something because they saw your documentary, I think it’s just the best.
Questions from our conversation
[1:05] What does the ideal future of work look like?
[2:12] You are living in France, have you lived there all your life?
[3:02] Were you always creative as a child? Was this kind of your ideal life creating a documentary?
[4:12] You did your learning expedition, when you were researchingThe Future of Work and talking to freelancers, maybe you could tell us a little bit more about that.
[6:26] What are some of those countries you visited when exploring The Future of Work?
[6:56] What were the biggest differences in terms of how people looked at the future of work or even the working environment?
[9:56] You would have [made the documentary] pre-pandemic, are these all freelancers and start-ups you talked to?
[10:31] Have you spoken to the companies again post-pandemic and have they indicated that they are making changes because of what has been going on in the world?
[12:03] You mentioned that you went to Singapore, did you find that the working environment was quite different there compared to say places in Europe and America?
[13:30] What would you say are the biggest challenges and struggles when it comes to people making decisions and shaping their ideal working life for themselves?
[16:25] Did you find that some of these trends when it came to challenges more alike based on country, or did you find that it was based on types of companies?
[18:00] When did it go from being a report to becoming a documentary?
[20:10] The documentary is called Work In Progress. Can you tell us what it is about and what people can expect to learn from it.
[22:45] What was your perception of the future of work before you started this journey and this documentary, and has talking to all of these people changed how you look at the future?
[24:06] Throughout this whole journey from when you did your learning expedition and created the documentary, what’s the most surprising thing that you learned about yourself?
[26:55] What is something that you learned throughout this journey about other people that might surprise some of our listeners?
[28:27] Did you find the meaning of your work?
[30:24] What do you want people to take away from this documentary?
[31:39] What do you have more space for in 2021?
Don’t miss the episode of The Future Of Now Podcast. Subscribe today on your favourite podcast player.
Links
- Watch Work in Progress
- Insights published in Forbes Article – ‘A Student’s Global View Of The Freelance Revolution’
About The Future Of Now series
Our goal at More Space For Light with The Future of Now (FON) series is to build a community of like-minded passionate professionals. We intend to bring together like-minded professionals to share, inspire, and explore new opportunities for growth. So you can discover new ways of working to bring back into your organisation.
More about the organisations connected to this event
- morespaceforlight.com.au – A strategy and innovation consultancy specialising in both in-person and/or remote workshops, design programs and Design Sprints.
- MURAL.CO – a remote collaboration whiteboard. With this platform you will supercharge your remote and in-person meetings and workshops.
- hacker.exchange – a global education company that is supercharging the next generation of startups & leaders.
