Why subscribe to workLIT?
You are someone who enjoys a bit of a rethink on the nature (and future) of work.
You believe poetry can be a balm in times like ours, filled with rapid change and dislocation of markets, companies, and the humans that inhabit them.
You are a reader and maybe even a creative yourself, interested in documenting the nature and humanity of work as we move towards an “agentic age”.
Because you would like something “different” in your inbox once (or twice if I’m ambitious) a week.
You are my friend and/or former colleague who wants to see just how far this poetry of business idea goes :)
I’m Heather, Corporate Poet and Founder of workLIT. Before officially adding “poet” to my resume last year, I spent almost 30 years in the corporate world, where I can still be found lurking, listening, and leading. I have inhabited organizations from early-stage start-ups to large corporations, in industries as diverse as Wall Street sales & trading, women’s health, employee benefits technology, and strategic consulting. Throughout my career, I have performed a variety of roles from sales rep to strategic investor, consultant, board member, product leader, and even CEO.
It all started with a Zoom meeting…
Two years ago, after a (rather memorable) meeting during the divestment of a business I was helping lead, I started writing. Rather, I started writing again. But this time, all the words that flowed forth were poems. Poems about work.
Contrary to the stereotype of the soulless corporation, the work we do within organizations is full of emotion. If you’re like me, you may feel (or have felt) deep purpose and pride, and even identity in building a new venture, launching a product, or being part of a high-performing team. But we also feel anxiety in the face of organizational change and job search, and can feel utter despair or shame from near-misses and career losses.
“Confessional poetry may be a dominant mode in American poetry, but while it has unlocked the doors to a poet’s study, living room, and bedroom, it has stayed away from his office-unless the office happened to be located in an English department.” - Dana Gioia, Can Poetry Matter: Essays on Poetry and American Culture, 2002
That said, there are a few voices who have bravely written at the unlikely intersection of poetry and work. I have enjoyed combing through a handful of poetry anthologies on work, all dating to the mid-90s…before the internet, email, and certainly today’s AI applications. I look forward to sharing poems with you that stopped me in my tracks, describing the impact of the industrial revolution, the advent of the service economy, and the entry of women into the corporate workforce.
For all these reasons, I feel an urgency to document the emotion and impact of modern work life as we enter the fourth industrial revolution, and fears are mounting about our ability to retain the “human” in human resources. So, standing on the shoulders of voices like Jim Autry, Harry Newman, the humor of the late Ralph Windle, and even the current John Kenny, I hope that my writing will light a fire in other “worker-poets” (maybe you?) to share your work (here) about work. Head over to the workLIT site and become a workLIT Creator.
What’s the ROI of a poem?
I’ve written more business cases than I care to remember, and know what some of you may be thinking. How can a poem help me hit the bottom line? What is the ROI of time spent in creative pursuits at work or with clients?
Good news for subscribers of workLIT. Occasionally, I share what I’ve learned while researching the business case of poetry in and for work. From David Whyte’s seminal work The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America, to Clare Morgan’s (Oxford University) collaboration with BCG in What Poetry Brings to Business, I aim to resurface the most compelling articles, experiments and ideas that demonstrate positive outcomes when creative writing (and poetry specifically) is used in the workplace.
workLIT will also aim to curate the ongoing work (and people) studying creativity in business broadly, with hard evidence for workLIT skills that are increasingly important as the robots arrive in force. This research has convinced me that during times of significant transformation, the practice of poetry and the science of storytelling can spark and sustain these uniquely human skills that are needed now, more than ever:
Contemplation (yes, that’s a “C” word synonymous with paying attention)
Curiosity
Creativity
Complex thinking
Connection
Join us.
Subscribe to workLIT to hear from us at least once per week. Upgrade to a paid subscription, gift a subscription to your favorite colleague or client, or just support us with a donation because you think this project is important.
All paid subscribers get access to the workLIT comments section and receive a personal thank-you. MOST importantly, by subscribing to workLIT, you’ll be supporting the work to create and publish content that aims to celebrate and amplify the humanity in work.
Just think, you will feel like a modern-day Medici for the price of a cup of coffee.
Still reading? Here’s a bit more on me, corporate anthropologist & poet
Before I entered corporate and entrepreneurial life, I studied comparative religion and anthropology. That meant that I didn’t have many (ok, any) job interviews. I wrote an essay describing my predicament for the student literary magazine, which I later learned was distributed for more than a decade after my graduation. It was used as promotional material for the religious studies department, a balm for terrified parents, as I somehow managed to work on Wall Street. As a parent of college-age kids now, I can fully appreciate the audience.
No regrets. I’m a huge fan of a liberal arts education (trending now!) as this area of study afforded me the chance to pursue the “what and why” of shared belief systems, and how cultures evolve or die. And while early dreams of an MFA and a writing career later morphed into an MBA in finance and strategy, I have come to appreciate the intersection of all of these interests as a competitive advantage, personally and professionally.
As for writing creds, I’ve been an eager participant in poetry workshops and grateful to Gotham Writers (NYC), GrubStreet (Boston), and the amazing Matthew Lippman (personal poetry coach) for their education and encouragement. I’ve been told some of my work is pretty darn good, and some of it will likely always be WIP. That’s the “craft” part of practicing art that has taken some getting used to during a corporate sabbatical this year. I haven’t spent much time submitting poems to literary journals, as (frankly) I think my poems will resonate more with non-poetry types. The goal isn’t to win a Pulitzer but rather to impact a handful of folks to read (and write) about their work experiences. Like any good product launch, I view this as a test, and I will continue to refine my craft and approach.
I am also grateful to have been recruited many years ago by the amazing Nicco Mele to join the Board of Mass Poetry in its early days, which allowed me to support and rub elbows with real poets, well before I considered myself one.
All that said, my concurrent roles as mom, wife, and daughter continue to command the highest ROI :).
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