I just have some comments on this e-mail you got, really got [...]]]> Another friend of mine emailed me recently with a response to the 4 points brought up in this post. I’ve highlighted the parts that caught my attention. I’m glad to see that some of the things I write get people thinking! Here’s the email:

I just have some comments on this e-mail you got, really got me thinking.

Point 1

This entire premise is built on the supposition that when people say they just want to sit back and relax, they actually mean it. Sure, everyone wants to just take it easy, but have you ever tried just sitting back and relaxing? It’s mind numbing and then you sit there and wonder “the hell am I doing?”

Every generation wanted to be the one that took it easy and didn’t fall into the boring monotony of our parents’ lives. The entire counter culture movement in the 60′s and 70′s were founded on mellowing out. Soon after, real life asserted itself and the hippies realized that mellow is cool and all, but houses and cars are paid by dollars. To suggest our generation thrives on being entertained is simplistic and false. We don’t thrive on entertainment; we thrive on movement and the natural flow. If we thrived on entertainment, no one would work. We need to be doing something, anything, to get going. Nature itself is never idle, why is it assumed that humans should be?

Point 2

Now that’s not really a dichotomy, is it? Monotony is still motion. It’s still doing something. It may be mundane, and not exciting, but that’s how most work is. It’s work. If it was fun, it would be called fun. No one ever says “hey, let’s go to the office this weekend and analyze synergies!” And I’ll bet my last dollar no one in ancient China said “hey, let’s get to building that wall!” It was a task, and they went about it as best they could. If they have more efficient ways of doing it, they would have.

Secondly, there is nothing ritualistic or traditional about farming, hunting or fishing. Not one single element of those tasks are accomplished today in the same way they were done in the 70′s.

The true dichotomy isn’t that a true healthy life doesn’t accommodate monotony, but that it requires rest and decompression, something which the human body requires, but the human psyche does not allow. That’s the interesting bit. Almost like nature has programmed us to freak out and go nuts. Kind of like perverse natural selection.

Point 3

Where in modern philosophy have business and pleasure been united? At least, anymore than they used to be? Business trips are still business trips. There are still client dinners and drinks on the expense account. What has really changed? Other than our connection to a global network and the shortening of the relative distance between people, nothing has changed in the basic way business is approached. I think the real problem, or issue, is the romanticization of the past. As if life the way it was back then is some ideal we should aspire to, rather than embracing the amazing capabilities and possibilities the world offers us today.

The actual funny thing is that the romanticization of the past has prevented business from moving past a real sticking point. I can literally do my job from anywhere on the planet. The technology exists, and is cheap enough, that I can be at home and working for clients in the exact same way I do it from my office.

But resistance to the future and clinging to a past that can never be again is causing the problems we have right now. We’re in the middle of trying to embrace the future and preserve elements of the past that we liked. Unfortunately, we can’t do that. We have to take the good with the bad and try to work around it. We have the power to work from anywhere, and are expected to work from everywhere.

That’s the real cause of all this. Call it boreout, burnout or whatever, it isn’t the people, or the processes, it’s the timing. We’re in an age were people still have to commute to an office 45 minutes away, and then back again, and are still reachable and connected 24/7. There’s a dichotomy for you.

Point 4

I have nothing to add here; just that I don’t believe we are all made for greater things. Some of us are just here to move the machine along and nothing more. The problem comes when those of us who thought we were destined for greatness end up doing a perfectly respectable and decent job, but are miserable because we aren’t barons of industry or liking deities.

Life sucks like that.

Thoughts?

Hey man! I was thinking about the same thing. Here are some of my thoughts.

I have four [...]]]>

Insatiable Flickr photo by Kandita

How can you truly convince someone that you’re overqualified for a job? Consistently get the job done as efficiently as possible and over-deliver on whatever is asked.

If you’re asked to build 10 widgets, [...]]]>

Overqualified image from Teacher Training

“What every man needs, regardless of his job or the kind of work he is doing, is a vision of what his place is and may be. He needs an objective and a purpose. He needs a feeling and a [...]]]> A typical “ideal” job is the intersection of the 3 circles

“What every man needs, regardless of his job or the kind of work he is doing, is a vision of what his place is and may be. He needs an objective and a purpose. He needs a feeling and a belief that he has some worthwhile thing to do. What this is no one can tell him. It must be his own creation. Its success will be measured by the nature of his vision, what he has done to equip himself, and how well he has performed along the line of its development.”
-Joseph Morrell Dodge

I realize that my last post and the upcoming ones might give the impression that I hate my job, so let me offer some clarification (or a disclaimer) of sorts.

I certainly don’t hate my job. I really, really like the people I work with (this was the main reason I selected this organization) and I really can’t complain about the perks (travel, hotels, cars, dinners, etc.). The trouble is, and has always been, the work (or lack thereof) itself.

The reason I’m exploring the idea of Boreout and Generation Y being correlated is as follows:

I’m typically the guy who asks the [difficult] questions most people are afraid to bring up. More often than not, it turns out that I’m not the only one wondering about something. In the end, we often find solutions (or workarounds) together and everyone is happy that someone brought up the issue. Hopefully I’ll be able to help others (not only GenY, but people who manage GenY) as I go through this process.

Based on the comments from the last post, I’m not the only one experiencing Boreout. I’m working very hard with my office to come up with a solution to this problem and hopefully, with your comments as well, we can come up with some ideas of how to approach our generation when it comes to work!

“Our Age of Anxiety is, in great part, the result of trying to do today’s jobs with yesterday’s tools.”
-Marshall McLuhan

Today, while I was on the bus, an extremely rude woman got on with her baby carriage and was trying to shove her way through. [...]]]> English: “Hold your horses goddammit!!” I first heard this French expression [which, I think is hilarious!] a few weeks ago from someone I’ve been hanging around with quite a bit lately.

Today, while I was on the bus, an extremely rude woman got on with her baby carriage and was trying to shove her way through. One lady didn’t move and the lady with the carriage started yelling at her while continuing to push through. I was slightly annoyed and was about to say something when the first lady turned around and said: “Aye, on se calme les ponpons!” I looked at her and just started laughing. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Funny how things can become funny all of a sudden.

Another strange coincidence this morning: while I was waiting for the bus, an elderly couple who [I'm assuming] have seen me around the neighbourhood started talking to me as if I was an old friend: “How are you? You must be really busy these days with school and exams! Are you almost finished university?”. I find old people senior citizens fascinating, so I spoke to them for some time. I told them how I was leaving to Sweden for 6 months and they said they were headed to the Swedish consulate to sort some things out. They were from Sweden; what are the odds!? I’ve seen these people around, but only spoke to them today.

We touched on a variety of topics ranging from the environment to cars to technology to outsourcing jobs and a few other random things. She said: “I really don’t envy your generation. You are going to have so much to deal with! It’s really scary when I think about it.” I smiled and told her that you can see where things are going and be scared OR you can see where things are going and take it as a challenge to make things better. It was my stop and that was the end of the conversation. I wonder when I’ll see those people again…