Scroll down and see this week's Balloon - "People as Things"

Welcome

We'd like to invite you to help us in creating a humane workplace.

Each week we will feature a balloon of insight. This week? "People as Things," a live video stream

You can grab a copy of Humanity@Work right here

About Us

Scientific Management was a movement that flourished during the previous turn of the century. Though the idea of efficiency seems sensible enough, it spawned the contagion of people-as-things. Cogs. Replaceable parts. Clinical model profiles. Work cubicles. Windowless offices and schools. Maybe it’s time we revisited the bottom line. If that line crushes any part of our emotional and spiritual well-being, we need to generate a different work. When onboarding new employees, why not ask ‘what can we do?’ rather than instructing ‘here’s what you’ll do’. And we now have the data to support the value of engaging humanity at work.

Here are questions we asked ourselves, as well as lots of other folks, that generated this project:

What about work is most important?

Money? Engagement? Dysfunction? Pain? Misunderstanding? Servitude? Satisfaction? Happiness? (Self)Respect? Retirement (this got the most laughs)? It seems like the work rules include a formula that too often stifles our spirit and our sense of community.

Who says? Is there some grand commandment that sets the rules for work? Well, Yes and No. We've been operating under manacles generated by the motors of efficiency, profit, and power. Barry Schwartz, one of our contributors, opens some possibilities in his book, Why We Work:

" Forty years ago, the distinguished anthropologist Clifford Geertz said the human beings are 'unfinished animals.' What he meant is that we have a human nature that is very much the product of the society that surrounds us. That human nature is more created than discovered. We 'design' human nature by designing the institutions within which people live. So we must ask ourselves just what kind of human nature we want to help design." (p. 9)

So that leads us to - - - If we want to change the pain and gain formula about work so that we can move toward something better, we can be very, very clear about what it is now and what it could be. Let's do that.

How about if work felt more like purpose and less like a sentence?

This week's balloon? Come and take part as we explore "People as Things"

Pull up a chair Monday April 3rd – 2 PM ET – NOON MT and join Susan Sneath and Gail McDonald in #TheChangeZone (https://lnkd.in/gVsem5aP) as we warmly present episode 67 “People as Things with Mac Bogert!”

"Warmly present people as things" you might enquire ? - your eyebrows rising. And yet, Gail McDonald and Susan Sneath know Mac Bogert. Mac brings lively conversations of warmth and snap. He finds opportunities to help people explore, clarify, and challenge what they have been told they should be because of their labels. We will look at three themes of interest in this powerful and sometimes controversial topic: Things (a recent blog post), Character over Category (an ongoing project spread through conversations), and Gender Crap, a pro bono book project to reach the marketplace of ideas May 15th. Remember, there is only one authority for self – you!!! Where can you find Mac Bogert? (Other than in his chair!) Linkedin: https://lnkd.in/gV79BHizWebsite: www.azalearning.com, https://lnkd.in/g-yuYEZd, www.gendercrap.comAmazon : Humanity@work, Gender Crap (as of May 15th)

This is already fun and will continue:

We have published Humanity@Work , bringing in perspectives from all over the world. We will be focusing on changing the way we think of, imagine, and show up for work. We are seeking exciting contributors with new ideas, ANY FORMAT. The foundation is an ongoing project, the book a milestone, not an end point. We currently have art, music, videos, research articles, blogs, podcasts, animations and cartoons.

If you have an idea, an insight, a brainstorm, a story, we'd love to hear from you. This project is ongoing - anything that can add to all of our work journey so that the formula of work = hell with pay can start to disappear.