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Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about: Difference between revisions
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{{a|shitmaxim| | {{a|shitmaxim| | ||
{{image|Okay|png|}}{{image|Okay 2|jpg|It’s okay to judge people who lie down for meetings.}}}}{{quote| | |||
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Every girl has her personal problems;<br> | Every girl has her personal problems;<br> | ||
Every boy has character flaws —<br> | Every boy has character flaws —<br> | ||
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So we have the old [[LinkedIn]] saw: | So we have the old [[LinkedIn]] saw: | ||
{{ | {{Shitmaxim|Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about}}. | ||
If only people would ''belt up'' about their goddamn personal problems, every now and then, so this were occasionally ''true''. | If only people would ''belt up'' about their goddamn personal problems, every now and then, so this were occasionally ''true''. | ||
The JC is working up a theory, propelled by exasperation at the prevalence of complaint as a latter-day professional occupation, that the moral crisis that engulfed the 20th century has claimed the [[opportunity cost]]. So we can have [https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2016/05/25/its-ok-to-say-whats-ok/ this kind of dreck] from (where else?) the public service, helpfully telling inductees about the absolute lack of any standards of behaviour; a mixture of what ought to be the bleeding obvious — things that should and, frankly, ''do'' go in any sentient organisation with aspirations of continuing in business — items that will appeal to work-shy teenagers used to having their parents tidy up after them, and items that ought to be utterly out of the question in any organisation fulfilling a service of any commercial or civil importance to anyone in the community. | The JC is working up a theory, propelled by exasperation at the prevalence of complaint as a latter-day professional occupation, that the moral crisis that engulfed the 20th century has claimed the [[opportunity cost]]. So we can have [https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2016/05/25/its-ok-to-say-whats-ok/ this kind of dreck] from (where else?) the public service, helpfully telling inductees about the absolute lack of any standards of behaviour; a mixture of what ought to be the bleeding obvious — things that should and, frankly, ''do'' go without saying in any sentient organisation with aspirations of continuing in business — items that will appeal to work-shy teenagers used to having their parents tidy up after them, and items that ought to be utterly out of the question in any organisation fulfilling a service of any commercial or civil importance to anyone in the community. | ||
Here’s the TL;DR. You are a professional. You get paid an unfeasibly large amount of money. For this money, you are expected to turn up, and perform, every day. You are expected to do a superior job, fast, on time. ''Leave your chaotic private life at the door''. If you can’t, expect to be judged by how you present. | Here’s the TL;DR. You are a professional. You get paid an unfeasibly large amount of money. For this money, you are expected to turn up, and perform, every day. You are expected to do a superior job, fast, on time. ''Leave your chaotic private life at the door''. If you can’t, expect to be judged by how you present. | ||
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*'''Turn a videoconference into a phone-call''': This is a nice idea. Indeed, you would be doing your organisation an even ''better'' service persuading whoever convenes these blessed videoconferences to just ''stop'' doing so without substitution, but this is an earnest step in the right direction. | *'''Turn a videoconference into a phone-call''': This is a nice idea. Indeed, you would be doing your organisation an even ''better'' service persuading whoever convenes these blessed videoconferences to just ''stop'' doing so without substitution, but this is an earnest step in the right direction. | ||
*'''Not check email out of hours''': Okay, but who doesn’t doom-scroll their work inbox every now and then? If you are passingly interested in your organisation and your career, you will: in which case this is bad advice. | *'''Not check email out of hours''': Okay, but who doesn’t doom-scroll their work inbox every now and then? If you are passingly interested in your organisation and your career, you will: in which case this is bad advice. | ||
'''Ask for help''': One of the core functions of any collaborative enterprise, so it should not be a surprise that fellow workers might ask each other for assistance every now and then. But there is proactive collaboration, and there is (non-directed) [[laziness]].<ref>''Directed'' [[laziness]] is a laudable end, and one that the [[JC]] regards one of the highest functions of the working stiff.</ref> | *'''Ask for help''': One of the core functions of any collaborative enterprise, so it should not be a surprise that fellow workers might ask each other for assistance every now and then. But there is proactive collaboration, and there is (non-directed) [[laziness]].<ref>''Directed'' [[laziness]] is a laudable end, and one that the [[JC]] regards one of the highest functions of the working stiff.</ref> | ||
'''Challenge things you’re not comfortable with''': Of course — could a contrarian disagree — but remember serenity’s prayer. If you find it hard to reconcile your organisation’s capitalist objectives to your own neo-Marxist values — and HR’s heroic efforts to accommodate you don’t quite go far enough — consider whether you are really in the right line of work. | *'''Challenge things you’re not comfortable with''': Of course — could a contrarian disagree — but remember serenity’s prayer. If you find it hard to reconcile your organisation’s capitalist objectives to your own neo-Marxist values — and HR’s heroic efforts to accommodate you don’t quite go far enough — consider whether you are really in the right line of work. | ||
===Don’t get carried away=== | ===Don’t get carried away=== | ||
*'''Make mistakes''': Well, okay. Everyone makes mistakes. But there are ''mistakes'' — snap judgments you are forced to make with limited information when dealing with a novel situation which turn out to be sub-optimal — and there are ''mistakes'' — basic errors calling into question your competence to carry out your daily function. The former are fine if you own up to them quickly, learn from them, and don’t repeat them. The latter are ''not'' okay. Expect to be disciplined if you cannot carry out your basic function. | *'''Make mistakes''': Well, okay. Everyone makes mistakes. But there are ''mistakes'' — snap judgments you are forced to make with limited information when dealing with a novel situation which turn out to be sub-optimal — and there are ''mistakes'' — basic errors calling into question your competence to carry out your daily function. The former are fine if you own up to them quickly, learn from them, and don’t repeat them. The latter are ''not'' okay. Expect to be disciplined if you cannot carry out your basic function. | ||
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*'''Add some gaps in your day to think and rest''': Think, okay; — ''rest''? Look: you’ve been sitting on your chuff all day doing [[conference calls]]. What ''is'' that if it isn’t rest? Unless we are talking about lunch, and you self-identify as a wimp — do your resting at the end of the day. | *'''Add some gaps in your day to think and rest''': Think, okay; — ''rest''? Look: you’ve been sitting on your chuff all day doing [[conference calls]]. What ''is'' that if it isn’t rest? Unless we are talking about lunch, and you self-identify as a wimp — do your resting at the end of the day. | ||
*'''Have a cry''': Overcoming the stigma of mental health gets a lot of play, and we are frequently beseeched to be more understanding about each others’ psychological travails — and so we must — but that does not mean living through them at work. If your mental state is vulnerable enough that you are uncontrollably crying, ''you should not be at work''. It is no place to work through existential mental health issues, and nor is not fair on your colleagues — or you, for that matter — to expect them to provide the treatment you may need. If it is your work that is causing your mental issues, and you can’t resolve them, then ''change your job''. | *'''Have a cry''': Overcoming the stigma of mental health gets a lot of play, and we are frequently beseeched to be more understanding about each others’ psychological travails — and so we must — but that does not mean living through them at work. If your mental state is vulnerable enough that you are uncontrollably crying, ''you should not be at work''. It is no place to work through existential mental health issues, and nor is not fair on your colleagues — or you, for that matter — to expect them to provide the treatment you may need. If it is your work that is causing your mental issues, and you can’t resolve them, then ''change your job''. | ||
'''Feel like these are crazy times, because they are crazy times''': No doubt he’s been cancelled by now,<ref>Can confirm, per the [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/manchester-students-union-university-rudyard-kipling-poem-paint-over-racist-colonial-a8452801.html Independent]: “Fatima Abid, general secretary of the students’ union, wrote on [[Twitter]]: “We removed an imperialist’s work from the walls of our union and replaced them with the words of Maya Angelou.”</ref> but '' | *'''Feel like these are crazy times, because they are crazy times''': No doubt he’s been cancelled by now,<ref>Can confirm, per the [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/manchester-students-union-university-rudyard-kipling-poem-paint-over-racist-colonial-a8452801.html Independent]: “Fatima Abid, general secretary of the students’ union, wrote on [[Twitter]]: “We removed an imperialist’s work from the walls of our union and replaced them with the words of Maya Angelou.”</ref> but Rudyard Kipling had it right: ''keep your head while all about you are losing theirs''. The craziest thing about 202{{strike|1|2}} is {{strike|that there hasn’t been a world war in seventy years|[''Subs'': can we think of something ''else'' that is crazy about 2022?]}}. Think yourself lucky, and get on with it, while everyone else is running around with their hair on fire flapping about how crazy it is. | ||
*'''Have a crappy day''': See: have a cry. If you take this to mean “I can just be a bit rubbish at work” well, yes you can, but expect to be marked down for it. You are an athlete: do your talking on the pitch. Have a crappy day ''in your own time''. | *'''Have a crappy day''': See: have a cry. If you take this to mean “I can just be a bit rubbish at work” well, yes you can, but expect to be marked down for it. You are an athlete: [[do your talking on the pitch]]. Have a crappy day ''in your own time''. | ||
{{sa}} | {{sa}} | ||
{{ref}} | {{ref}} | ||