An opener I observed in almost every social situation having met someone new started with a “nice to meet you I’m __ … what do you do?” Then of course, people talked about their work.
Working for a large org makes us feel like we’re just an extension of this one BHAG that we really don’t have visibility into. We obsess over recognition and associate our worth with the successes (and failures) at work, but who tf really cares? Are we so egomaniacal that we think we had full control over them? Do we really think that without us, it couldn’t have happened??
A question I like to probe others on is asking if they think their job could be replaced by ‘robots’. More often than not, people said no. Their role demanding critical thinking and analysis far too complex for a program to replicate. I ask if they are required to be emotionally sensitive or especially creative, and again the answer is almost always no. To consider yourself more effective than a fully autonomous, time and cost efficient and unemotional process emphasises the brainwashing of the rat race.
Too many young minds are falling victim to the lures of the hedonic treadmill that is a ‘career’. They’re addicted to the kool-aid but I refuse to drink it.
Chris Dixon wrote a brilliant piece about people choosing to spend years in an industry or job that they didn’t enjoy or advance them towards their goals. He highlighted our tendencies in overvaluing near term over long term rewards. The fears of losing our progress by starting over led to suboptimal decisions and outcomes that were detrimental to long term happiness.
Whatever shitty job someone was in, it became their normal. Then they decided they’d be happy if they had x and y. If they stayed for another year they’d receive x bonus, become manager… the list grew even more once past the point of diminishing returns.
The sense of community or social gratification provided working for a company can be fulfilling for some. But it’s important to establish principles on what truly matters so that we are intentional in our decision making and in control of what we do, how we feel, and therefore how we exist.
