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I can really understand how it feels from their perspective. Work feels much better when we do stuff that makes us connect as humans, and quarterly corporate ev

I can really understand how it feels from their perspective. Work feels much better when we do stuff that makes us connect as humans, and quarterly corporate events don't cut it. They created a culture where they did something fun together and had a conversation topic other than work, and there's this one guy who just refuses to participate and doesn't even try to find a way to include himself in the group. Sure, reading a book a week takes time from your other activities and is way too much to expect, but if you had spent 15 minutes on Monday morning browsing Wikipedia on the topic of literature and brought some trivia, that would have been much appreciated. People often complain about the soullessness of corporate jobs, but when someone tries to do something about it, there's usually huge pushback because everyone wants that something to fit their personal preferences, and since we can't find a thing that everyone likes, we go back to treating job as a pure business relationship.

xcv123 3y ago
[flagged]
castornest 3y ago
:(
arvinsim 3y ago
I do agree that work is much better if you are friends with your colleagues. That being said, one always need to be wary of bad actors that take advantage of people's openness. There is a reason why the advice to not date or get too close to colleagues resonate with many people. There are just some workplaces that are toxic. Sometimes, it is just better to delineate work from your personal life and interests.
starbugs 3y ago
> I can really understand how it feels from their perspective. Work feels much better when we do stuff that makes us connect as humans, and quarterly corporate events don't cut it. They created a culture where they did something fun together and had a conversation topic other than work, and there's this one guy who just refuses to participate and doesn't even try to find a way to include himself in the group. Could also say the group failed to integrate a person who had different preferences for their free time and then bullied them when they weren't present at work? I think both perspectives are quite extreme and miss the mark. If reading a book a week in my free time was a work requirement, I would be out and quick. That sounds ridiculous!
- anal_reactor 3y ago
  > Could also say the group failed to integrate a person who had different preferences for their free time and then bullied them when they weren't present at work? That's also possible, depends on details of the dynamic between OP and the rest of the group
  - starbugs 3y ago
    > That's also possible, depends on details of the dynamic between OP and the rest of the group Sorry, no. That's not also possible. That's in fact exactly what happened if we believe OP's story.
amonith 3y ago
The complains come from how fake it is. Companies force "corporate fun" where there is none. They try to influence your personal life. They want you to dedicate your entire life to the company and they want you to treat coworkers as family while laying off underperformers of ever increasing KPIs. Sometimes not even underperformers. THAT'S soullessness and that "mandatory" team-building exercise of book reading is actually an example of that because when layoffs come the company won't care about any of that. It's much better to work for a company that allows you to do the job (preferably remote) and f off asap, enabling you to forge real relationships out of work in an area you actually plan to live. God I love remote contracts...

xcv123 3y ago

[flagged]

castornest 3y ago

arvinsim 3y ago

I do agree that work is much better if you are friends with your colleagues. That being said, one always need to be wary of bad actors that take advantage of people's openness. There is a reason why the advice to not date or get too close to colleagues resonate with many people. There are just some workplaces that are toxic. Sometimes, it is just better to delineate work from your personal life and interests.

starbugs 3y ago

> I can really understand how it feels from their perspective. Work feels much better when we do stuff that makes us connect as humans, and quarterly corporate events don't cut it. They created a culture where they did something fun together and had a conversation topic other than work, and there's this one guy who just refuses to participate and doesn't even try to find a way to include himself in the group. Could also say the group failed to integrate a person who had different preferences for their free time and then bullied them when they weren't present at work? I think both perspectives are quite extreme and miss the mark. If reading a book a week in my free time was a work requirement, I would be out and quick. That sounds ridiculous!

anal_reactor 3y ago
> Could also say the group failed to integrate a person who had different preferences for their free time and then bullied them when they weren't present at work? That's also possible, depends on details of the dynamic between OP and the rest of the group
- starbugs 3y ago
  > That's also possible, depends on details of the dynamic between OP and the rest of the group Sorry, no. That's not also possible. That's in fact exactly what happened if we believe OP's story.

amonith 3y ago

The complains come from how fake it is. Companies force "corporate fun" where there is none. They try to influence your personal life. They want you to dedicate your entire life to the company and they want you to treat coworkers as family while laying off underperformers of ever increasing KPIs. Sometimes not even underperformers. THAT'S soullessness and that "mandatory" team-building exercise of book reading is actually an example of that because when layoffs come the company won't care about any of that. It's much better to work for a company that allows you to do the job (preferably remote) and f off asap, enabling you to forge real relationships out of work in an area you actually plan to live. God I love remote contracts...