# The work of improving the work.

2026-02-08 · Joakim Jardenberg. Original in English. Titles and image descriptions added by AI.

Hörni. I've worked in digital transformation for +33 years (yes, I'm that old), and ”job 2” has never been more fun, more exciting, or more value-creating.
Every minute I spend on how to do the work gives me 100 minutes back. For every task. Every challenge.
But let's break it down. We all have four jobs:

- Do the work
- Improve how the work is done
- Improve yourself
- Develop the team

Most people are stuck on job 1. Understandably. The inbox is full, the deadlines are real, the meetings won't cancel themselves.
But here's the thing: AI is a job 2 machine. This is exactly why my #1 principle is ”invite AI into everything you do.” Not because AI does your work for you. Because it forces you to think about how the work gets done. Every prompt is a tiny process improvement. Every workflow you build is compound interest on your future capacity.
The people I see – everyday – making the biggest leaps right now aren't the ones with the fanciest tools. They're the ones who carved out time for job 2, 3, and 4.
This little Kaizen-meets-Carl-Larsson reminder hangs on my virtual wall now. Maybe it should hang on yours, too.
(Made with GPT Image 1.5 in ChatGPT. The aesthetic was very intentional 🤓) 

![An illustrated four-jobs framework: do the work, improve how it is done, improve yourself and develop the team.](https://jardenberg.com/images/notes/backfill/7426288183736250368-1.jpg)

Image description · AI: An illustrated four-jobs framework: do the work, improve how it is done, improve yourself and develop the team. The source image is preserved unchanged.

[Original LinkedIn post](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7426288183736250368/)

Source: https://jardenberg.com/notes/the-work-of-improving-the-work

Joakim Jardenberg. Original in English. Titles and image descriptions added by AI.

Joakim Jardenberg’s own writing: CC BY 4.0. Credit Joakim Jardenberg and preserve AI + JJ / AI translation attribution. Third-party quotations, recommendations, photographs, screenshots, logos and media retain their own rights and are excluded.
Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/