3 ms·
>"For me too many companies use the "family" aspect of things too much." I'm not sure if I'm in total agreement or in total opposition. Family is an analogy..
by netcan 6y ago
>"For me too many companies use the "family" aspect of things too much."
I'm not sure if I'm in total agreement or in total opposition.
Family is an analogy... At the scale of many of our workplaces "tribe" might be more fitting. I'm also note convinced people quite believe it... It's more that they're learning the language of their new social structure, whether that's "team," or "family" or whatnot.
In any case, it's suspicious that we're using analogies here at all. Workplaces, usually a company, are the main social institutions of our society. Only the family rivals it. Why do we need analogies to describe workplace the relationship?
I agree that it's not a family. What is it though? A purely transactional definition doesn't work in this context. Your workplace is not your bank. You don't have to be emotionally vested in your bank. You can't avoid being emotionally vested in your workplace in a psychologically sound way.
So... going to the OP's point somewhat... Something is very broken, socially, in the thing we call companies. It's often unpleasant and for many people this lockdown is a reprieve.
I think work from home, as a norm, is a move towards a more transactional relationship with work. This may be better than whatever sucks about your workplace, but it's also got problems. We spend so much of our lives working. A minimalist relationship may not be enough.
- mxcrossb 6y agoI enjoyed the Office UK version, where Tim kind of muses on this pint at the end. Offices are a unique social structure, where we spend a huge amount of time interacting with others that we never choose to be with. It seems to me there is definitely some overall benefit there, and I would hesitate to say it can be replaced by spending more times on one’s hobbies.
- netcan 6y agoIt is pondersome. I think I disagree though. I don't think it's replaceable, unless we're replacing work. With remote work we'll be replacing office culture with online office culture, not hobbies. I suspect they'll inherit some of the problems. Where we spend huge amounts of time interacting with others that we never choose is what most of our major social structures are. Family, tribe, village, parish. Work happens to be our most important social structure besides family. It the one that grants you your privileges and titles, so to speak. You can't just replace it with a hobby. Hobby's take much less of your time and have much lower stakes. To be more engaged with what's going in a minor part of your life than a major one.... it's not healthy, IMO. I'm not crying over office culture getting lost. We can't get rid of it, that's the problem.