Introduction

Abstract

This book tells the story of dramatic work–life change. It is a story whose main protagonists are, on the one hand, working men and women and, on the other, the institutions, organization, and practice of work. The individual changes I focus on are movements by men and women between unrelated careers or occupations. They are movements that raise fundamental questions regarding the importance and meaning of work, the role that it plays in our lives, and the degree to which our work is aligned with our values, beliefs, and commitments. The institutional changes I focus on have been well documented. They describe changes to the structure, organization, and practice of work; that is, changes that have impacted the way work is experienced and made sense of. This book, and the research from which it has been drawn, takes place at the intersection of these institutional and individual changes. Through the stories of men and women who underwent significant and dramatic changes to their working-lives, I consider the extent to which contemporary work is able to sustain lives that individuals consider fulfilling, meaningful, and self-reflective. The stories told in these pages are therefore revealing not only the way personal identity is negotiated through work, but how that negotiation is tempered by the practice and organization of contemporary work and career.

There is a huge difference, and actually, if you’re a barrister there’s a whole setup, it’s an institution, and it has boundaries that are very clear, you know, there is a system where you have clerks and you have solicitors and you have courts and you have judges. And there is this vast great net of stuff that all interlinks and you have your place in it and it is very clear where your place in it is. And if you’re running your own business all of that kind of grid reference completely disappears, because the buck stops with you … So it’s not, it’s never near so clear. Because there aren’t rules, you know, if you’re a barrister and it’s the crime court you’ve got to wear a wig and a gown. And this is much less clear. And I do think that’s, that’s probably the biggest difference of all actually, is that it’s effectively impossible to know where the boundaries are if you’re in your own business … And it’s much looser than being a barrister, and the bits don’t fit together so intricately, and, you know, it’s full of lots of cracks. And the problem is that you can disappear down those cracks. If you’re an employee, if you work for somebody then, you know, there is the system there which you’ve joined, there’s the firm, and the firm has rules, and there’s a contract, and it says, you’re allowed to take so many holidays and you mustn’t be late and you’ll get sacked if you swear in front of whoever it is, and so on. Effectively I have to make, there aren’t any rules … It’s just not clear cut, and I think that is quite a big difference

[Miles: Barrister ç Business Owner]