The act of sculpting extends far beyond marble.

Living in 1400s Florence as a romantic-era sculptor may not be on the cards for most of us, but sculpting is broader than a single medium. To sculpt is to shape, to cleanse of impurities, to multiply through subtraction. That instinct is a human one, and one that is not confined to a particular era or vocation. As such, what if the focus was shifted from sculpting marble to sculpting the roles people play?

Imagine you traded lives with a similarly-inclined but ultimately random individual. Which parts of your work day would feel terribly inhospitable to subject a guest to? The analogy might seem like a Freaky Friday level of science fiction, however it’s actually not too far from the truth of a dynamic workforce. If you quit your job tomorrow, it’s likely that your role would be filled by one of your kind. Another {insert your job title} with the similar skills, goals, dreams, and taste.

Here’s the proposition – let’s treat these unknown friends as the welcome kin that they are. Spend a little time each day sculpting your daily work routines into something your less-experienced self would have gotten excited about. Clear steps, useful documentation and efficient systems that enable a daily flow-state. A little space in the universe where a future version of someone just like you can squeeze in and build a wonderful life working on interesting problems. Snails shed shells they have outgrown, not broken.

There is something beautiful about sculpting a role for another person. Slowly removing all the parts that don’t work, finding points of friction that you have unique knowledge of, implementing creative solutions to make things better, permanently. Sanding off the rough edges, designing joyful activities that can scale, leveraging deep commercial acumen to ensure the position creates more value than it consumes.

Eventually, when you leave for another project, another role, or even just a break, you can leave behind the perfect lifeline for another human that loves the same work you do. Gift them a well-maintained shell that can act as a source of refuge while they hone their craft.

And in the mean time, your role might just become something you’re deeply passionate about. A shell you never outgrow because it grows with you.

Sculpt the future sculptors.