The Economist’s Bartleby column on human behaviour in the face of relentless “on-ness”:
In the face of 24-hour communication, we rebel in our own quiet way. We put personal communication first, and we reply in our own sweet time.
Tag: Gig Economy
Anyone who prescribes meditation, coffee and wine deserves attention.
Yesterday’s Times has an interview with Chris Bailey on his new book, Hyperfocus: How to Work Less and Achieve More.
Our inability to focus, because of our digital aids to productivity, is the bane of our times.
In a fascinating article, Bailey prescribes:
- Set yourself no more than three daily tasks
- Do a phone swap
- Set an hourly awareness alarm
- Switch environments when you need to
- Ditch brain training apps for meditation
- Buy a cheap alarm clock
- Save your first coffee for work
- Play a song on repeat
- Take a mindful shower
- Have a glass of wine
It’s definitely worth a read and some consideration. Over a glass of wine.
Just adding to my earlier post on open plan. Here’s Wally Bock’s Three Star Leadership, via Execupundit, with a wealth of articles on the subject.
His own summary:
People seem to want a one-size-fits-all answer to the question about what makes the best workspace. I don’t think there is one. I think the answer depends on the people involved, the work to be done, and the size of the team.
Read the full breadth of perspective, here.
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Each of us needs what nature gives us, when nature gives it.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (10.20)
Note: I usually quote the Maxwell Staniforth translation from the Penguin Great Ideas edition. However, for this I preferred the more recent (and much lauded) Gregory Hays translation from 2003.
The debate over open plan office layouts rages on.
For many organisations, the advantages of real-estate savings, increased collaboration and organisational flexibility seem overwhelmingly to the good.
To this, today’s Times adds research from the University of Arizona that suggests open plan is good for the participants’ health as a result of higher levels of activity and lower levels of stress.
On the other side of the argument, the Economist’s Bartleby column reported some possibly counter-intuitive findings: Open offices can lead to closed minds. A report published by the Royal Society – The impact of the “open” workspace on human collaboration – found that face to face interactions decreased by around 70% once open plan was introduced, as:
“transitions to open office architecture do not necessarily promote open interaction. Consistent with the fundamental human desire for privacy and prior evidence
that privacy may increase productivity, when office architecture makes everyone more observable or ‘transparent’, it can dampen F2F interaction, as employees find other strategies to preserve their privacy; for example, by choosing a different channel through which to communicate. Rather than have an F2F interaction in front of a large audience of peers, an employee might look around, see that a particular person is at his or her desk, and send an email.
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Whoever offers to another a bargain of any kind, proposes to do this. Give me that which I want, and you shall have this which you want, is the meaning of every such offer; and it is in this manner that we obtain from one another the far greater part of those good offices which we stand in need of. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages. Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow-citizens.
Adam Smith (1723 – 1790), An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Too often, focus is on the [wicked] “self-love” rather than on the proper context.
Image: Shutterstock
Here’s a fascinating piece from the Times.
A few years ago, I was intrigued to read how the toxoplasmosis parasite modified the behaviour of mice it infected so that they were more likely to be caught and eaten by cats, thus achieving the parasite’s (presumed, none have been interviewed) goal of moving up the food-chain and perpetuating its species.
The parasite increases risk-taking behaviour in infected mice: they are less scared of cats and more likely to explore unfamiliar spaces. I read somewhere else that they are more likely to be seen during the day, too.
The Times’ Tom Whipple reports on a study by Stefanie Johnson at the University of Colorado, Boulder to see if the parasite had a similar effect on human behaviour:
To investigate that theory, they looked at three groups. The first was a sample of 1,500 US students who were studying biology or business. Those on the business course were almost 50 per cent more likely to have the parasite. The second was 200 people attending entrepreneurship events. There, infected people were 80 per cent more likely to have started their own business.
Finally, they investigated how global infection rates — which range from 9 per cent in Norway to 60 per cent in Brazil — correlated to an index of entrepreneurial activity. Again, the presence of the parasite was linked to being more orientated towards starting a business, and less troubled about a fear of it failing.
Stefanie Johnson, of the University of Colorado, Boulder, said that she was not surprised by the findings. “Other data has looked at autopsy results from people who died doing risky things — riding a motorcycle without a helmet or skydiving,” she said. They were more likely to have toxoplasmosis than people who died from less risky causes.
The University of Colorado’s piece is here.
As we so often find, we are never quite the masters of our fate that we like to think.
Thus, I confidently predict that we sovereign professionals are a parasite-ridden bunch. Happy Friday!
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Another great post from Seth Godin:
Yes there was supposed to be a clown at your birthday party. No, he didn’t show up. That’s a bummer.
…
The question is: how long should you mourn the loss of the clown? How much more of your party are you ready to sacrifice?
…
Read the rest, here, and consider.
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Left-wing politicians and officials at HMRC dislike the gig economy because it doesn’t conform to their model of what work should be.
Yes, welfare and regulation need to be adapted, but changes should go with the grain of modern employment rather than against it. Not least because it’s what so many people actually want to do.
Read the rest in The Times, here.
A wilful determination to see participants in the gig economy as helpless victims risks destroying the very real value that sovereign professionals both provide and enjoy.
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We get what we deserve. So says Seth:
Every once in awhile, someone steps up and makes something better. Much better. When it happens, it’s up to us to stand up and notice it. Which means buying it and consuming it with the very same care that it was created with.
Photo by Wesual Click on Unsplash