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> People whose behavior and beliefs align with their company’s prevailing culture may benefit from sharing more about themselves at work, Chamorro-Premuzic says

by jawns 1y ago

> People whose behavior and beliefs align with their company’s prevailing culture may benefit from sharing more about themselves at work, Chamorro-Premuzic says. > However, people who express “authentic” opinions that run counter to the group’s views may risk damaging their reputations or relationships. I feel bad for anyone who doesn't see this as obvious. I've seen a lot of folks celebrate that their work allows them to be their authentic selves, even though they're well aware that the same opportunity isn't afforded to those with disfavored views or characteristics.

pinkmuffinere 1y ago
Definitely. In fact, I'll say it is the same in almost _every_ interpersonal relationship. I engage with my parents, grandparents, siblings, etc in specific ways that we have agreed we have overlap. Depending on the person, I soften my utopian ideals, my fascination with drugs, my progressive-ness, my math memes, even my accent when I talk. I don't think this is unhealthy, I think this is just what it means to be alive. I express my "authentic self" through my life as a whole, and it is probably witnessed by no individual person; only I can see / enjoy it.
- claytongulick 1y ago
  Manners are the grease of society, as they say.
- oceanplexian 1y ago
  What a time it was to be alive before the Culture War (tm) in San Francisco. I worked at a household name tech company and you could draw a pie chart of Libertarian, (Self described) Communist, Progressive, Anarchists, and everything in between. Drugs weren't really controversial but you had an entire spectrum of personalities and drugs that were popular in different groups. Everyone kind of accepted each other to be honest.
  - hyperliner 1y ago
    [dead]
  - array_key_first 1y ago
    There was pretty much no point in time in American history where people just accepted each other. This kind of stuff is very easy to say when you might be a person who is easy to accept. In general, Life is pretty smooth sailing if you don't trot too much off the beaten path - and that, unfortunately, includes immutable characteristics. Generally, if you ask other people about the same time frame, you will get different answers.
- gompertz 1y ago
  I behave this way too. But I also fear it leads to a degree of split personality disorder... and feeling a bit like a fraud.
dhutvjhfguhg 1y ago
Great, so you have to pretend 40 hours a week. Great system we built for ourselves. Maybe we should tell kids that in school. That will motivate them.
- lawlessone 1y ago
  Have you never worked before? This is most jobs. lying to kids isn't going to help.
- ElevenLathe 1y ago
  The whole point of school is to teach kids social facts like this. It's certainly not to teach them algebra or literacy.
  - only-one1701 1y ago
    It doesn't though. You can't get fired from school.
    - ElevenLathe 1y ago
      I mean you can be expelled, socially ostracized, held back. There are plenty of ways to punish students for expressing verboten opinions or proclivities.
      - only-one1701 1y ago
        Unless you went to an insanely strict school (I don't know, maybe you did), you're talking about different orders of magnitude between the trouble you can get in for voicing an unpopular or unorthodox opinion at work vs school. "I think women are biologically more suited to staying at home with kids."* Result of saying this at school: some of your classmakes dislike it/you. Maybe they talk shit about you to your friends. Result of saying this at work: fired. _*NOTE: I don't actually think this, personally_
        1y ago
duxup 1y ago
It's always the executives, who likely face no consequences. Or the folks celebrating it are just playing the game.
pseudosavant 1y ago
My own experience has been that even if it was "safe" to do at a company at a certain point, people and managers will change, and your next manager won't care at all that the previous one valued your "whole self". Anything that can make you an outsider (disability, culture, etc) will likely eventually harm you if it is a meaningful part of your work persona. Sadly, less is more when it comes to sharing yourself at work.
everdrive 1y ago
>I feel bad for anyone who doesn't see this as obvious. I don't mean this in a rude way, but inexperienced, or socially-immature, or spectrum-y people really fail the most with regard to this kind of advice. There's a (correct) stereotype that spectrum-y people are overly-literal. However, from the perspective of a spectrum-y person this is totally perplexing. Why do people frequently state literal facts which have a secondary, contextual and metaphorical meaning? "Bring your whole self to work" has a really straightforward and literal meaning. It's not a metaphor which requires interpretation. However "bring your whole self to work" is quite obviously not meant to be taken strictly literally. So then why the hell say it like that? Why would people go around saying things which are definitely incorrect and rely wholly on subtext or cultural knowledge? It'd be like if I said, "hey by the way it's safe the change the lawnmower blade while the spark plug is still in" or "looking at the sun won't blind you quickly enough to be risky." And then people are just supposed to know I didn't mean my very literal statement literally. And if everyone who's normal and socially well adjusted understands that you're not meant to take "take your whole self to work" then what work is this phrase even doing? Why does anyone even say it?
- jjj123 1y ago
  It’s rhetorical. It sounds and feels nice to a subset of the population. And I do believe it’s literally true for a small subset of the population. The people who have a personality that fits well into corporate structures, who believe in “the mission” and whatnot.
- C6JEsQeQa5fCjE 1y ago
  > [...] then what work is this phrase even doing? Why does anyone even say it? Most people are far more emotional than logical (possibly as a consequence of a lack of basic education in logic). They are not precise with their language, and they are not logically consistent in their words and actions. A lot of them (most?) tend to say things that make them feel good, or that they aspire towards, not things that are actually true. It's not even a conscious choice to lie, they're too used to being like that, and there isn't enough peer pressure to change since most people are like that, too. A technical person on the spectrum should consider most people inherently "bugged" and treat all their outputs as unreliable.
musicale 1y ago
Bring your professional facade to work. Leave your weird, authentic, (and perhaps messy) self for the contexts where it will be genuinely appreciated.

by jawns 1y ago

pinkmuffinere 1y ago

Definitely. In fact, I'll say it is the same in almost _every_ interpersonal relationship. I engage with my parents, grandparents, siblings, etc in specific ways that we have agreed we have overlap. Depending on the person, I soften my utopian ideals, my fascination with drugs, my progressive-ness, my math memes, even my accent when I talk. I don't think this is unhealthy, I think this is just what it means to be alive. I express my "authentic self" through my life as a whole, and it is probably witnessed by no individual person; only I can see / enjoy it.

claytongulick 1y ago
Manners are the grease of society, as they say.
oceanplexian 1y ago
What a time it was to be alive before the Culture War (tm) in San Francisco. I worked at a household name tech company and you could draw a pie chart of Libertarian, (Self described) Communist, Progressive, Anarchists, and everything in between. Drugs weren't really controversial but you had an entire spectrum of personalities and drugs that were popular in different groups. Everyone kind of accepted each other to be honest.
- hyperliner 1y ago
  [dead]
- array_key_first 1y ago
  There was pretty much no point in time in American history where people just accepted each other. This kind of stuff is very easy to say when you might be a person who is easy to accept. In general, Life is pretty smooth sailing if you don't trot too much off the beaten path - and that, unfortunately, includes immutable characteristics. Generally, if you ask other people about the same time frame, you will get different answers.
gompertz 1y ago
I behave this way too. But I also fear it leads to a degree of split personality disorder... and feeling a bit like a fraud.

dhutvjhfguhg 1y ago

Great, so you have to pretend 40 hours a week. Great system we built for ourselves. Maybe we should tell kids that in school. That will motivate them.

lawlessone 1y ago
Have you never worked before? This is most jobs. lying to kids isn't going to help.
ElevenLathe 1y ago
The whole point of school is to teach kids social facts like this. It's certainly not to teach them algebra or literacy.
- only-one1701 1y ago
  It doesn't though. You can't get fired from school.
  - ElevenLathe 1y ago
    I mean you can be expelled, socially ostracized, held back. There are plenty of ways to punish students for expressing verboten opinions or proclivities.
    - only-one1701 1y ago
      Unless you went to an insanely strict school (I don't know, maybe you did), you're talking about different orders of magnitude between the trouble you can get in for voicing an unpopular or unorthodox opinion at work vs school. "I think women are biologically more suited to staying at home with kids."* Result of saying this at school: some of your classmakes dislike it/you. Maybe they talk shit about you to your friends. Result of saying this at work: fired. _*NOTE: I don't actually think this, personally_
      - 1y ago

duxup 1y ago

It's always the executives, who likely face no consequences. Or the folks celebrating it are just playing the game.

pseudosavant 1y ago

My own experience has been that even if it was "safe" to do at a company at a certain point, people and managers will change, and your next manager won't care at all that the previous one valued your "whole self". Anything that can make you an outsider (disability, culture, etc) will likely eventually harm you if it is a meaningful part of your work persona. Sadly, less is more when it comes to sharing yourself at work.

everdrive 1y ago

>I feel bad for anyone who doesn't see this as obvious. I don't mean this in a rude way, but inexperienced, or socially-immature, or spectrum-y people really fail the most with regard to this kind of advice. There's a (correct) stereotype that spectrum-y people are overly-literal. However, from the perspective of a spectrum-y person this is totally perplexing. Why do people frequently state literal facts which have a secondary, contextual and metaphorical meaning? "Bring your whole self to work" has a really straightforward and literal meaning. It's not a metaphor which requires interpretation. However "bring your whole self to work" is quite obviously not meant to be taken strictly literally. So then why the hell say it like that? Why would people go around saying things which are definitely incorrect and rely wholly on subtext or cultural knowledge? It'd be like if I said, "hey by the way it's safe the change the lawnmower blade while the spark plug is still in" or "looking at the sun won't blind you quickly enough to be risky." And then people are just supposed to know I didn't mean my very literal statement literally. And if everyone who's normal and socially well adjusted understands that you're not meant to take "take your whole self to work" then what work is this phrase even doing? Why does anyone even say it?

jjj123 1y ago
It’s rhetorical. It sounds and feels nice to a subset of the population. And I do believe it’s literally true for a small subset of the population. The people who have a personality that fits well into corporate structures, who believe in “the mission” and whatnot.
C6JEsQeQa5fCjE 1y ago
> [...] then what work is this phrase even doing? Why does anyone even say it? Most people are far more emotional than logical (possibly as a consequence of a lack of basic education in logic). They are not precise with their language, and they are not logically consistent in their words and actions. A lot of them (most?) tend to say things that make them feel good, or that they aspire towards, not things that are actually true. It's not even a conscious choice to lie, they're too used to being like that, and there isn't enough peer pressure to change since most people are like that, too. A technical person on the spectrum should consider most people inherently "bugged" and treat all their outputs as unreliable.

musicale 1y ago

Bring your professional facade to work. Leave your weird, authentic, (and perhaps messy) self for the contexts where it will be genuinely appreciated.