Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash

2020–02–10 Beacon NY | According to the groundhog, Puxatawny Phil, winter will be short. I hope so.

Quote of the Week

Enough Leaning In. Let’s Tell Men to Lean Out. | Ruth Whippman punches lean-in psychobabble in the mouth:

Research shows that rather than women being underconfident, men tend to be overconfident in relation to their actual abilities. Women generally aren’t failing to speak up; the problem is that men are refusing to pipe down.

[…]

Until female norms and standards are seen as every bit as valuable and aspirational as those of men, we will never achieve equality.

7 Corporatisms I never want to hear again | Pete Ross is hilarious and points out the emperor has no clothes. Even the caption on the photo is killer:

Fucking hell Karen, did you actually just say the word “disruption” again? God, I need to get out of this place.

Mission, vision or values

For God’s sake, no one in your company believes or buys into any of this crap. Most rank and file just want to be left alone to do their work. If they’re lucky, they find meaning in their job and what they achieve in it, they don’t need an added layer of bullshit on top to feel good about it. If they already dislike their job, that layer of bullshit is just going to piss them off even further.

:::

Is Menopause a Taboo in Your Organization? | Megan Reitz, Marina Bolton, and Kira Emslie point out that there are 61 million women in the US workforce, and basically no discussion of the impact on working women from menopausal symptoms.

The paucity of reports that examine the costs associated with menopause in the workplace is yet another sign of the suppression of conversation about the topic; there are even fewer accounts about the costs of the silence that shrouds it. This silence stifles the possibilities of implementing work practices that could assist women, such as flexible working or workplace environment changes. Lack of openness — and even worse, outright derision or bullying — can lead to reduced job satisfaction, unnecessary stress, anxiety and even depression for women who feel unable to seek support. The costs are also high for colleagues and the organization as productivity decreases and in some cases female employees decide to leave the workforce altogether.

:::

Employees Speak Out — Against Their CEOs | Rachel Feintzeig, Charity L. Scott and Sharon Terlep report on recent controversies at Away and G/O Media where employees engaged in social media campaigns to attempt to force changes on their organizations:

Such episodes come as companies are trying to attract younger skilled workers who survey data show crave a heightened purpose from their jobs and want their employers’ values to overlap with theirs. In response, high-profile CEOs such as Walmart Inc.’s Doug McMillon are speaking out on issues that matter to their workers and seeking to foster workplace cultures that encourage open debate and employee feedback.

By empowering employees to speak out, though, company leaders are opening the door for workers to criticize the boss, said Ronnie Chatterji, a professor of business administration at Duke University who has studied CEO and employee activism.

“This is a double-edged sword of openness and transparency for a lot of companies and something that the new generation of CEOs is grappling with,” he said.

Employees are demanding a voice in the company’s culture, and are unwilling to be quietly loyal. In a tight job market — where they can get a job across the street — the economic pressures to shut up and sit down have much less force.

Elsewhere

More than Words | Moving from vertical to horizontal organizations means bigger changes than terminology. | Stowe Boyd

The Downside of Always-On Work Culture | We are opting for mediocrity instead of excellence. | Stowe Boyd