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In our [[bossy]] times we hear a lot about what is, or isn’t, the “new normal” and how employers — especially big institutional ones — might be “pivoting” back from the unexpected marvel of compulsory remote working — which, let’s not forget, they were bounced into, to get out of a [[COVID]] jam — to their more usual disposition of outright distrust, in which staff must present themselves at on premises, where they can be properly over-watched, [[internal audit|audited]], monitored, measured and assessed for periodic thinning. | In our [[bossy]] times we hear a lot about what is, or isn’t, the “new normal” and how employers — especially big institutional ones — might be “pivoting” back from the unexpected marvel of compulsory remote working — which, let’s not forget, they were bounced into, to get out of a [[COVID]] jam — to their more usual disposition of outright distrust, in which staff must present themselves at on premises, where they can be properly over-watched, [[internal audit|audited]], monitored, measured and assessed for periodic thinning. | ||
Tech start-up hysteria notwithstanding, the institutional disposition has thus settled: ''calm the hell down, everyone. We’ve got | Tech start-up hysteria notwithstanding, the institutional disposition has thus settled: ''calm the hell down, everyone''. We’ve ''got'' this. There’s nothing to see: this is ''not'' a new normal. ''Old'' normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. ''Do not adjust your mindset.'' | ||
The [[JC]] says — ''hmmmm''. I don’t ''think'' so. [[Homey don’t play that|Homey don’t ''play'' that]]. | The [[JC]] says — ''hmmmm''. I don’t ''think'' so. [[Homey don’t play that|Homey don’t ''play'' that]]. | ||
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Now all this would be fine, for work that really ''could'' be [[operationalise]]d. Nor is it new: the history of [[technology]], since the plough, has been the separation of work into mechanical tasks, better done by a machine, from complex ones that must be done by the [[meatware]]. But, as we know, for professional work, that separation is far easier said than done. As long as it has not been done — [[Operationalisation|and it hasn’t]]<ref>The clue is that you still need humans, albeit itinerant [[school-leavers from Bucharest]], to do it: work that is ''actually'' suitable for machines should be done by, well, ''machines'', not [[school-leaver from Bucharest|itinerant school-leavers from Bucharest]], who are bad machine-proxies.</ref> — you run significant [[tail risk]] pulling your punches with staff whose expertise you might really need without warning one day in the yanwning, unknowable future. | Now all this would be fine, for work that really ''could'' be [[operationalise]]d. Nor is it new: the history of [[technology]], since the plough, has been the separation of work into mechanical tasks, better done by a machine, from complex ones that must be done by the [[meatware]]. But, as we know, for professional work, that separation is far easier said than done. As long as it has not been done — [[Operationalisation|and it hasn’t]]<ref>The clue is that you still need humans, albeit itinerant [[school-leavers from Bucharest]], to do it: work that is ''actually'' suitable for machines should be done by, well, ''machines'', not [[school-leaver from Bucharest|itinerant school-leavers from Bucharest]], who are bad machine-proxies.</ref> — you run significant [[tail risk]] pulling your punches with staff whose expertise you might really need without warning one day in the yanwning, unknowable future. | ||
For the [[employment contract]] is a two-sided affair, and the [[consideration]] the employee asks for her “work product” is ''more than mere [[money]]'' — a subtlety that eludes those whose abiding focus is in the cost, and not the value, of the firm’s resources. Besides money, professional employment bestows status, facility, and eminence — what {{author|Daniel Pink}} would summarise as “[[Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us - Book Review|autonomy, mastery, and purpose]]”. It is hard to see any of these in a disinfected | For the [[employment contract]] is a two-sided affair, and the [[consideration]] the employee asks for her “work product” is ''more than mere [[money]]'' — a subtlety that eludes those whose abiding focus is in the cost, and not the value, of the firm’s resources. Besides money, professional employment bestows status, facility, and eminence — what {{author|Daniel Pink}} would summarise as “[[Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us - Book Review|autonomy, mastery, and purpose]]”. It is hard to see any of these in a disinfected Formica desk and a keyboard, or a permanent diet of [[Skype]]-conducted [[opco]]s, [[steerco]]s, stakeholder check-ins and semi-annual [[compliance]] attestations. | ||
===Home working as the next logical step=== | ===Home working as the next logical step=== | ||