What place does “good work” have in business?

Maison Suger is pleased to host the fourth session of the seminar organised by GRETS, Being able to do a good job. A professional demand, with Jean-Philippe Bouilloud, ESCP Business School. The session will be introduced by Jérome Cihuelo - EDF R&D.

We all know what good work is. Deep in our memory, we find these notions learned very early on about a job well done or “good work,” from elementary school to professional life, from our first attempts at writing to the acquisition of more complex skills in the professional world. The notion of a job well done is therefore part of our work experience, and every profession produces its own standards for what constitutes “good work.” 

However, this concern rarely appears in studies on work or in union demands. Yet “beauty” is one of the dimensions of work that is neglected and rarely addressed in research, but is nonetheless real: from craftsmen to nurses, from bricklayers to executives, the notion of beautiful work, work well done, beautiful working relationships, or beautiful workplaces surfaces in all accounts. Often, a job well done is a source of identity, as it is a source of pride and social satisfaction. Being able to do beautiful work is therefore important for self-esteem, regardless of the nature of our work. Moreover, numerous studies show that one of the main demands in the workplace is not so much to work less, but to have the opportunity to “be able to do” this beautiful work.

This aspiration, deeply rooted in all professions, reflects a need to be able to do a job well, which gives meaning and reflects the skills and commitment of the person doing it. This aesthetic dimension of work helps to give meaning to work. Conversely, those who are unable to do “good work” may find themselves in a situation of “aesthetic suffering” when they are forced, against their will, to work in an unsatisfactory manner for reasons of economy or time pressure. The demand to “be able to do beautiful work” can thus become a source of resistance to organizational pressure and a professional demand that permeates the entire world of work, from operational staff to managers and executives. Based on an analysis of work situations and a multidisciplinary approach, Jean-Philippe Bouilloud will shed light on the forms taken by beautiful work, the role it plays in modes of professional engagement, and the challenge it represents for corporate management in terms of sustainable performance. 

• Jean-Philippe Bouilloud is a professor at ESCP Business School and a lecturer at Paris Cité University. He is vice-president of the International Network of Clinical Sociology (RISC) and a member of the Laboratory for Social and Political Change (LCSP-UPC). 
  In the field of work and organizations, he has been conducting research for some 30 years at the crossroads of several disciplines in the social sciences and humanities on the condition of corporate executives, the notion of creativity at work, and the aesthetic and sensory dimensions of activity. 

• Bouilloud, J.-P., Deslandes, G., Business Aest/hetics, a dialogical perspective, New York, Springer, à paraître décembre 2025. 
• Bouilloud, J.-P., 2025. Les illusions perdues de l’exemplarité en gestion, dans L’exemplarité en pratique, approches pluridisciplinaires, Polo de Beaulieu, M.A. Eds, Classiques Garnier.
• Bouilloud, J.-P., 2023. Pouvoir faire un beau travail, Une revendication professionnelle, Toulouse, Eres.
• Bouilloud, J.-.P., Deslandes, G., 2015, The Aesthetics of Leadership: Beau Geste as Critical Behaviour, Organization Studies, 36(8), 1095–1114.