Walking through Reykjavik last week, I came across a beautiful mural that contained a simple statement that stopped me: “Isn’t it your job as humans to be collecting great moments?" It was the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a personal context. Reminders to savour sunsets, to smell the roses, to be present. But my mind, as it often does, jumped immediately to work.

Maybe that's unusual. Maybe most people can separate their vacation mindset from their professional one more cleanly than I can. But I've been fortunate enough to be involved in significant individual moments across the companies I've worked with. The kind that stick with you. Smiles on faces. Energy and excitement around tackling something new together. I remember once, in a crowded office building, watching a product owner step out of a lift completely lost in thought, only to beam a bright smile the instant he caught sight of the delivery manager I was walking with. That's a great moment. Just before Christmas, a customer shared how many of their year achievements had only been possible because of the changes we had worked through together. Another one.

We should all be collecting great moments at work.

I know how that sounds. Sometimes the constraints we work within, the rules and expectations, the accumulated weight of organizational inertia, make great moments feel impossible. But we all deserve to work in places where great moments are common, not exceptional. Where they're expected, not miraculous.

Here's the thing people get wrong: great moments come from having real influence on outcomes. From driving rather than being a passenger in the work. They emerge when people feel valued and know they're valuable, when they can see the direct line between their efforts and something that matters.  

This isn't some exceptional state we need to engineer through heroic effort. It's the natural state of being. People want to be part of something meaningful. The barrier isn't people, it's the environment they work in. The systems and structures that strip away agency, that turn contributors into ticket-takers, that measure activity instead of impact. Get the environment right, create the conditions where people can actually influence what happens, and they'll create their own great moments. For themselves and for the company.

So yes, collect great moments. At work, not just at home or on vacation. And if you're not collecting them where you are, it might be time to ask why. And what it would take to change that.