Where did everybody go?
Where is everyone? They're not in the office like they used to. People aren't really packing the trade shows like the old days. Meetings aren't full of bodies around the conference table like before. Watercoolers have become lonely places. I think I saw a breakroom downtown get tagged recently. Before the pandemic everyone was...in their assigned places. And now they're not.
This is stressing people out.
Hang tight, we're in transition is all. The assigned places we all occupied in the before times, though pretty darn reliable, were also full of problems. Politics. Toxicity. Glass ceilings. Limits. Side glances. A narrow ladder up with slippery rungs. Even though we relied on our assigned spots, we were also subject to their darker side. It seems our work culture has had ingredients of Stockholm syndrome for several decades. It also seems the pandemic shook us out of our captive fog. Put all that together and you can bet the old assigned seating won't be filling back up.
So where is everyone?
Yes, yes, yes, people are working from home of course. By and large people have traded their 12 hour work days of commute-office-commute to 12 hour days at home. But that's just moving our bodies from one place to another. Where are our heads and hearts? Where do we find colleagues? Where do we go for inspiration? Where are we making meaningful connections? Where are we mentoring young workers? Where do we find nutrition for our soul in this new normal?
Like clay, we are in the middle of forming a new definition of community.
Like clay, we are in the middle of forming a new definition of community. The glorious part about it is we get to choose what we want community to be after the Great Reset (dibbs, trademark, copyright, all rights reserved, patent protected, legal legal legal) another term in the queue after Return to Work, The Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting, Quiet Hiring and all of that verbal garbage. Suck it pundits, I got to the word first this time.
What exactly the new era of community is forming into we don't yet know. But we do know what we want the ingredients to be, as well as what we won't accept.
Old work community recipe gets a big nope.
Backstabbing.
Unbalanced.
Toxic.
Managed.
Vertical.
Limited.
Risky.
Stressed out.
Overwhelmed.
Lonely.
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New work community recipe gets a big yup.
Loving.
Self-determined. (Yup, this is where Fractional comes in. You know I had to touch on it somewhere in this blog.)
Giving.
Together.
Sharing.
Teaching.
Respectful.
Honoring.
Mutual.
Prosperity.
Mentoring.
Nutritious.
I am 100% stealing this last word, nutritious, from my friend Liz Otteson (she/her) . Liz's work is defining?community?in the new normal through?cohorts and such. Liz contends that it isn't the place we gather that matters.?What matters is who we gather with and the nutrition we get from those relationships.?Nutrition for our hearts and souls. Talk to Liz about it as I know I am not doing her work justice. But you get the point.
I can hardly think of a more beautiful thing.
We're not gathering where or how we used to and for a darn good reason. For the first time in decades, we get to choose how we want our work lives to be. The choice will not be made for us by tradition, old momentum, status quo or force. We get to choose how we define community for ourselves in the next work era in America. I can hardly think of a more beautiful thing.
Tagging some people who are at the front lines of defining community in the new normal. Find them and catch a zoom with them. You'll be glad you did.
Writer without permission.
2 年LOVE how you define what we've left behind and what we can aspire to currently. You are so right... and the vision you present of a 'nutritional' environment? It sounds delicious. I'll have two servings, please!
Marketing & Sales Executive I Strategist I Innovator
2 年This is a good one!
Financial Advisor | ?????? ???? ???????? ?????? ???????????? ?? ???????? ???????? ?????????? ????????!
2 年Nothing stays the same! Lead, follow, or get out of the way! 2023 is going to be a year of big change in how employers contract with people for their services and how people offer their services (knowledge and experience) to the business world.
Business Value & Growth Advisor | Fractional COO | Right-Hand (Wo)man
2 年John Arms, I love the idea of being part of creating a 'new community' that is free of many of the old problems mentioned above. I met with a co-worker from 10+ years ago for coffee this afternoon and she mentioned you had spoken at her church during a transition support meeting. She saw we were connected and reached to get back connected (Rachel Raden). Small World!!
Ideator. Connector. Facilitator. Synthesizer.
2 年John, thanks for the shout out. And thanks for always pushing our thinking about where work is going AND how we can make it better by leaning into our strengths in the service of others. I love your vision for fractional talent coming together in empowering community, and look forward to seeing Voyageur U continue to grow, thrive, and create powerful ripples in our economic ecosystem!