Thought-provoking Things Worth Sharing - Issue #109
The world we've created - without work we are at a loss to keep active.
Welcome to this week’s collection of thought-provoking things. I write this weekly newsletter so subscribers can see some of the things I’m writing and sharing without depending on social media algorithms to show them to you. Each week I’ll share information about careers and workplace culture, mental health in the workplace, talent development, and important information about privacy, security, and legal tech.
You can find out all about me here - Mike McBride Online.
I was reading the above post about the WGA strike that veered off into an interesting look at a couple of show hosts, Drew Barrymore and Bill Maher, and the plans they had to go back to work despite the writers for their shows being on strike.
It occurred to me that perhaps Maher and Barrymore, who both reportedly have over $100 million, are not bringing their shows back for financial gain. They’re doing it because they simply do not know what else to do with themselves.
Reading this was disturbing to me. Ali had more thoughts, which I was in total agreement with. Given no financial necessity, how many other things could you do other than cross a picket line? The options are endless, and not one of them was “work.” Yet, not working for five months seemed to be something that was beyond the pale and unacceptable, even if it meant crossing a picket line.
Are we so tied to our jobs as our identity that we can’t be away from work for too long, even when there is no fiscal need for it?
Over the years I’ve heard some seemingly sane, well-adjusted people claim that even if they won millions in the lottery, they’d keep working at the job they have. Most will talk about wanting to stay busy or enjoying the social aspects of their workplace but I really have to wonder about those reasons. Of all the things they could spend their time doing, things that would absolutely keep them busy, and provide social interaction, do they want to keep working for someone else?
Why? Is it maybe because they can’t imagine not being “insert job title here?” Have we somehow all become convinced that we are our labor, and nothing else?
We all have so much more value than our jobs. We shouldn’t limit ourselves in that way. It’s a damaging way to live.
Who are you outside of your job?
Careers and the Workplace
I’ve talked about the loss of trust that happens when there’s a layoff before. That’s why I was intrigued by this post on LinkedIn - The Importance of Honest Workplace Conversations Post-Layoff
Would we care if the current way of recruiting died? Probably not. But, would the AI version of it be any better for diversity and inclusion in hiring? I’m not so sure.
On that topic - Workplace Inclusion: Organizations Must Choose to Take Action
As I've said before, many tech companies, especially cloud-based tech companies, did amazingly well during the worst of the pandemic. Then, in 2022 as the risk of death from COVID started to wane somewhat, the growth just wasn't there for these companies. Most of them still had successful and profitable years by any measure, but they weren't growing at these exponential rates any longer. Investors, CEOs, and Boards, just weren't feeling a lot of "winning" going on, and the stock price showed it as the layoffs started.
It really is as though the bar got set remarkably high for a couple of years and now you have to pay the price when it comes to having expectations that are actually impossible to live up to.
Training and Development
Make sure you are exercising those empathy muscles. They'll help you understand where everyone is trying to go, and they'll help you care enough to want to help them get there. That's learning and development in a nutshell to me.
Speaking of understanding where your audience is trying to go - What does “know your audience” really mean?
Mental Health in the Workplace
We can always use more - Compassion in the Workplace
The activities that are the best contributors to mental well-being, things like community, family, time spent in nature, etc. all involve spending less time working. At the same time, as we saw above, society is constantly telling us to strive to be better and better at our work. Time makes The Case for Mediocrity as a way to stop striving enough to take better care of our mental health.
As a manager, this could help too - Linked: How To Spot Anxiety In Your Employees
Privacy, Security, and Legal Tech
How Much Would a Government Shutdown Give Hackers a Leg Up?
As he points out, if nothing else, it simply slows down the work CISA is doing in comparison to the work bad actors can, and will, be doing. If we consider how much of a race it is to keep up with the opposition in this fight, being slowed down by politics sucks.
Not exactly unexpected - Relativity Announces aiR for Review, Its Generative AI Review Product, Plus Other AI Products for E-Discovery and Data Management
Also on the eDiscovery front - Five Great Reads on Cyber, Data, and Legal Discovery for September 2023
Dear law firms - Is It Time To Officially Say Bye-Bye To The Billable Hour Thanks To AI?
A little knowledge and solid practices go a long way - Basic Cyber Hygiene Prevents 98% of Attacks
That’s all folks. If you found something interesting in this week’s newsletter, please share it with your friends. It’s the best way to help support the effort I put in each week to share this with you.
I haven't needed to toil for money for more than twenty years, but I think I've done some of my best work in that interval. My hope is that my efforts helped people, mainly lawyers, clients, judges, support staff and law students. Without the freedom to treat financial gain as secondary, I don't know if I'd have been able to give away more than half my professional time to education and what is optimistically termed "thought leadership." No longer husband or father, work remains the centerpiece of my identity; so, yes, the money has almost nothing to do with it. Work's the biggest reason to get out of bed in the morning. Someday, it may be a garden or a glee club or a grandchild; until then it's my law practice. But then again, I don't work for anyone else. Maybe that's the difference.