II. This entry is the second in a series of commentaries on sustainable workplaces and examines work in the context of people’s lives. Sustainable Workplaces begin with policies and practices that address psychological sustainability: the mental, emotional and behavioral characteristics that allow workplaces to function and thrive over time while increasing the intelligence and energy of the people. We distinguish the different roles that work may serve for people, and share how meaningful value can be created within the workplace to increase the energy and alignment of the organization’s workforce. The series began with an introduction to workplace sustainability and

In business most sustainability conversations focus on the larger social and ecological system. Organizations are looking at the question of continuing to grow while reducing consumption of natural resources or diminishing the quality of our communities and natural habitats. They are focusing on the wellness of the whole in the recognition that organizations, communities, and ecological systems are all interconnected, and that the endangerment of any one of these elements has the potential to harm them all. The trend is about acknowledging a larger system. But what if we were to expand the system of consideration even further? Not outward,