Work, enjoyable, good and meaningful or full of tricks?

'Uit Muntendam', uit munt dam, uitstekend dam, the title of the first chapter of 'Mooi werk' by Ben Tiggelaar is a beautiful play on words. The fact that Tiggelaar was actually born in Muntendam, as the son of the postman, makes it even more beautiful. Because of my prejudice about his 'MBA in één dag', I avoided Tiggelaar and his books for years. I could not leave this thin book, published on the occasion of the month of spirituality 2016, and I do not regret it. I do not need to read any of his other books anymore, but not because I was disappointed, on the contrary. This small work is so valuable that all that other coin stuff no longer matters. Tiggelaar wrote 31 short texts, with a great and clear common thread. It is about pleasant work, good work and meaningful work. And he takes 'work' quite liberally. It is actually about 'life'. As a well-read man, he refers to various honest thinkers such as pastor Tim Keller from New York and the man behind Václav Havel, the Czech Tomáš Sedláček. How he arranges all those thoughts into a line that you can really do something with, is clever and encouraging. Moreover, written in such a way that you like to read on. Shortly afterwards I came across Roos Vonk's book, 'Colleagues and other inconveniences, the psychology of the workplace'. Seemed like a nice combination to me. Was a bit of a disappointment when I started reading. Vonk's book is a collection of 67 columns and she does not pretend to a clear line or philosophy, or maybe she does...   She presents a collection of life lessons, with even a search system for every personal occasion, like some bad readers use the Bible. We analyze each other to death, I thought sometimes. Looking at yourself can make you depressed. And then also our subconscious. What do you actually do with those insights? Between nonsense, gossip and boxes of tricks, it is a search for something to hold on to. Sometimes it is there. The Barnum effect, for example, that you always recognize yourself in every description. And ultimately, your inner compass as the ultimate guide for every situation. Strangely enough, it remains entertaining to read. It does not make you much better, at most the confirmation that social intelligence is useful in dealing with people and can be learned to a certain extent. Incidentally, Vonk writes in a fluent style and is very compact, but it is not a book to read in one go. 'Mooi Werk' is no longer available as a printed edition, but can be downloaded for free via www.tiggelaar.nl/shop/nieuw-mooi-werk See also: Report 3, 2016