… over on Gaping Void, I noticed either a blog ad or a new type of link, over to what looks like a blog, more than a site.
SlackerManager.com – Paving The Path Of Least Resistance, So You Don’t Trip And Fall
Blogging meets Dilbert in the Post-9/11 Era ?
The tag line makes sense when you read it, almost. But then, I found myself thinking … if it’s the path of least resistance, who cares if you fall … you’ll probably roll into something even less resistant, and it might be fun – warm, wet, soft, easy on the touch … whatever.
I’ll look around, and see what it has to say. I am so very jaded about workplace stuff … witty observations, more prescriptions and nostrums about high performance, and engagement, and execution, and leadership, and bottom-up managing upward, and authenticity, and hot groups, and innovation, and creativity.
I believe I have a good reason for being jaded. This domain was my career focus for 20 years, and a passion for most of those 20 years (and arguably, when thinking and writing about wirearchy, the sociology of technology, and the dynamics of intercognilinked communications … it still may be). I have boxes and boxes of books in my storage lockers on self-directed teams, role and power negotiations in the workplace, organizational design, organizational change and development, spirituality at work, leadership, the future of organizations. I’ve been a presenter about issues such as organizational effectiveness, work design, and the “workplace of the future” at national and international conferences in three or four countries.
From a cynical point of view, I could say that the more there has been an emphasis on performance and competition, the more it has been an excuse for many (most ?) organizations to become more darwinian, meaner if not leaner, more conservative and risk-averse, and more narrow, more rigid … even though one wcould argue that the demands of our current environment make it necessary, critical even, that organizations become more cooperative and collaborative, educated players-with-risk, and seeking to engrain flexibility as a way of life, a central defining factor of culture.
I am jealous, in a way, of the people in their early ’20’s through to mid-to-late 30’s, in that they at least get to be realistic, sardonic, sarcastic, intelligent, and so on “slackers” because it’s at least evident in 2004 that life is more often than not NOT the monotonic, black and white, heterosexual couple, two kids and a house fairy tale, the work-your-way-up-the-ladder for 20 years and you’ll be alright beliefs. Sure, those scenarios still unfold for many people in different ways or via different paths, but at least we don’t pretend as much about that area of life any more. We do pretend about lots of other stuff, though … you can probably pick just as many areas as me.
On the other hand, I imagine that there are many 20-something to 30-somethings out there that think I must be nuts or out of touch with their lives, given that there’s still so much of the old-school, established institutions mindset still in power … and no doubt many of them have a very harried, difficult set of circumstances to navigate and manage. For them I have a lot of empathy, and I still sometimes feel a responsibility to keep pushing for more openness in organizational/workplace areas and issues. Work and making one’s contributions are central aspects of peoples’ lives, and there’s an inherent, ongoing struggle between the demands made on organizations by the rules of the commercial/business game, and the demands made on individuals – physically, psychologically and emotionally – by organizations in order to succeed at the business game.
I can often understand why intelligent people become slackers, or why the “slacker ethic” as I understand it, exists … why encourage this system by getting empassioned about corporate performance when the system is badly out of whack, and not doing you any favours ?
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