We Like Packages

I was watching the first episode of Tokyo Vice last night, about the first non-Japanese reporter on Japan's most famous newspaper. It's a kind of "fish out of water" story about learning the ways of a new country, trying to push his outsider opinions on what news should be, etc. One detail in the first episode rang an idea into my head, though.

Assignment

Writers on newspapers are often given assignments. In fact, until you're pretty much the "star reporter" level, everything you do is driven by your editor giving you something specific to write about. In this case, he was told to write 500 words on the death of a man and turn it in by 5pm.

I thought "Wow. An assignment. He doesn't have to think about what to write. He just has to work through how to write it to match the needs of his newspaper." And there was a manual given to every reporter after they passed the test, so he didn't even have to think that hard about that, either. It was essentially plug and play.

People love an assignment. Don't you?

Just tell us what to do

I think as the world gets more and more loud, as more things compete with our attention, as conflicting priorities land on us nearly every day, we feel more and more an urge to have someone package up parts of our life.

I read somewhere that the fastest growing category of sales in a typical US-based grocery store were the prepared foods often distributed over by the deli counter. This covers anything from sushi to everything you'd need to make a Thanksgiving dinner, and so on. We like just reaching for something, taking it home and heating it up, and there, that's dinner handled.

Disclaimer: I have zero fashion sense. Okay, but I was about to say that my clothes are laid out such that if I reach onto the left side of my rack, it's shirts. The right side has pants. All my shirts and all my pants theoretically go together. Done. Packaged. I don't have to think.

There are ways we can package things at work, too. Don't you agree?

But is it a matter of preference?

First off, work is what it is. If I need you to write a script for a software demo, then I probably don't expect you to say, "Naw. I'm feeling more like producing new website copy." Work is work.

Beyond that, though, do you think you'd prefer to have your assignments packaged up? Or do you want to act with some level of autonomy? Maybe it depends on the role, but does it also depend on the human?

As I've been writing about it, I'm saying: "Wow, sure are a lot of things to think about. Wouldn't it be cool if someone just handed us the assignment?" But maybe that's just a point of view, or maybe it's a limited or narrow application.

What about you? With your work. Do YOU want your function more packaged? Or do you want the whole wide grocery store to work from?

I feel like we say we prefer one thing, but we buy the other. Even at work.

What about you?

Chris...