A working lexicon for language that clarifies work, identity, and vocation—useful terms borrowed from elsewhere, plus words coined here.
Working collection · evolving in public
Developing from the Meanings section of Professions on Purpose—and intentionally still in progress.
Wisdom begins with the definition of terms. —Socrates (apocryphal)
The title is literal twice over: words about work, and words that do work—helping us notice, name, and act on what was previously hard to see.
One of an emerging family of “…at Work” collections, including Identities at Work, Hypotheses at Work, and Values at Work.
Terms in progress
Curated
Visible effort shapes perceived value.
Action before perfection.
Tactful intuition in delicate situations.
Inner strength that persists through adversity.
Committed effort that sees a difficult task through.
Joy arising from doing the work itself.
Joy or happiness in one’s working life.
When disruption to the self-story stalls the next identity.
Promoted on yesterday’s competence into tomorrow’s mismatch.
How mortality awareness shapes meaning and worldview defense.
The spirited drive for honor, recognition, and courageous action.
Staying power versus merely staying in the chair.
Meologisms / Coined here
When inherited language doesn’t fit the work, make language that does.
Fear of the professional unknown.
Building from the lives already lived.
Promoted past motivation—not competence.
Experience, expertise, and lives not taken.
Managing regret as signal.
Start with what you have—and can do.
Nominees
Lexicons
— language that expands what we can notice, think, or do.
— names what vexes us and examines language that deceives, obscures, confuses, or irritates.