Don’t answer that. While I certainly would love for you to spare me some change, the question in the title is both rhetorical and a literal literary device called a creative play on words. Who knows, this might even be the start of making some friggin’ sense of the mess we created in the world. And you are all to blame. As am I. Let me explain.
If you haven’t noticed, we are in a pandemic (depending on where you live) and hidden inside this health catastrophe is future of work and all of its logistics. Specifically, working from home or remotely. You should know that flex work and agile work are also in the mix. If you’re not sure what all those terms mean, then I suggest you start packing a dictionary with your lunch and do some light reading. Why? Because in my profession (communications/journalism) we still value words and how they are used. To help you understand, imagine you just bought a new desk with many parts that needed assembly. If the instructions were written by a fourth-grader, they might look a whole different than if a technical writer had worked his or her magic.
WORDS AREN’T JUST “WORDS”
Communication is not an afterthought, buzzword, or silly career. It’s important. Yet, we are treating it as if it’s indispensable. I’ll provide three examples. Have you noticed lately (within the past couple of years) how certain words and letters get capitalized for no reason? I wanted to know why. So, I did research. I landed upon an article from The Week. The writer of the article opened by saying that he’s declaring a free-for-all on how we use capital letters so long as the person doing so can give a good reason. Uh, no sir. As a writer, you should know better than to perpetuate idiocracy. Sorry for my harshness but if I told a courtroom that anyone could object during the proceeding so long as they had good reason, the judge would hold me in contempt. We have rules.
While researching project management (an area in which I’ve taken some interest) I came across a website offering a full course for the low low price of $194. At that very moment, a chat box opened with a photo of Jennifer who was ready to answer my questions. I should have known better than to oblige. Yet I did. I asked her how the course was perceived across industries. She asked me to explain. Fair question. I clarified by asking her how hiring managers perceive this course if they were met by two candidates — one with the course, and the other with a Master’s Degree in PM. Here’s the response that was crafted by “Jennifaux” (A.I. Jennifer).
I’m flattered by her kind attribution to my knowledge. I wish the same were true with her choice of response and the others that followed. I guess she chose to ignore capitalization altogether. And fuck punctuation — who needs that anymore?
This is the world we are slowly adapting to. Remember when an oil change, address change, season change or time change were enough change for a year? It’s almost like you have a ship with two crews: one bailing out the boat from the leak that has sprung and the other with a garden hose filling it back up. Let’s use common sense. Cutting corners, eliminating positions, letting one person do the job of three — that’s all fine. But there are costs to ignoring the benefits of qualified, bonafide workers.
GEN X-IT? WE CAN’T HANDLE CHANGE?
Earlier this week, I was reading about a study done by Generation regarding yours truly. Well, not just me truly, but all of Gen X. In case you’re unfamiliar, Gen X is the generation right before Millennials and just after the Boomers. We’re right in the middle — the same position in which children sometimes get ignored too. We’ve been graced with a really shitty review of being the “slacker” generation. And, in this recent study in which hiring managers were asked about X, the consensus is that we lack the skills and adaptability to make it in the workforce. Hmm. Really? Below is verbatim what Indeed offers as adaptability in the workplace.
“Adaptability skills are qualities that allow you to adjust to changes in your environment. Being adaptable at work can mean you can respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies and other processes. Being adaptable also means possessing soft skills like interpersonal, communication, creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
Being adaptable can be important when working on projects, developing strategies and implementing different approaches to meeting goals. By showing adaptability skills, you reveal how motivated you are to try new things and learn new skills.”
First, I won’t even get into how much learning I do on a weekly basis. At this point, I’m so far ahead of the curve I’d have to start learning in another language. Y ya yo hablo Espanol! But I’m not about to adapt to stupidity or change that is deliberately (or what seems to be deliberate) aimed at causing frustration and a more difficult experience. We’re moving the world forward, right? We need to think very hard on this “new way” of working and our expectations. Free-for-alls (including free-4-alls), chatbots, change agents and shenanigans may also all have different definitions…but are closely related.
TIME-OUT ON CHANGE!
Lastly, I’d like to call a time-out on the push for a shortened workweek until we have all the facts. A study out of New Zealand from a company that saw productivity skyrocket when cutting down to just four days was all the talk on LinkedIn. You could imagine how many pissed-off employees found a way to slip this nugget of “I told you so” in front of their manager or company owner. But it appeared in LinkedIn without the full story. How do I know? Because I covered this story a few years ago. And if it wasn’t this exact one, then there are now two companies in New Zealand testing the workweek. Productivity did increase but for other reasons too: New rules with this four day work week included policies such as:
- No unnecessary interaction with employees
- Scheduling doctor and dentist appointments on your scheduled days off
- Sick time usage
- Shorter lunch breaks
- Holiday policies
- No leaving work early anymore
Essentially, to get that third day off a week, employees gave up some other perks. It’s not that no one gave a shit about Cheryl’s birthday anymore — they just couldn’t celebrate it. One question I still have is how their communication is going if different people have a different third day off? Are the teams still cross-functional when the person you need an answer from is off? Maybe one day I’ll get to the bottom of that. For now, be glad you have a useless Gen Xer with acute attention to detail, logical and creative brain in his head who still cares about the world-at-LARGE. Communication matters!
