When I worked in software, the BS work equivalent would be our daily standups. We all went around and shared what we did the previous day, (even if we only worked for 1hr because the other 6hrs were filled with mandatory meetings). It was the most colossal waste of time ever. Like sorry, I don’t care if you went to this meeting or that meeting yesterday -- it has no impact on my work. And people would try to pad things to look good (plus our team was 14 people), so our meetings would always take unnecessarily long. Not to mention we used a tool that made us present “popcorn style” so we had no choice but to pay attention for the full duration. 🤦♂️
Oh my gosh Leo this is such a great example - a daily meeting simply to discuss what you did the day before! With 14 people, I feel like that either must go long or no one can really share anything that impactful anyway. Thank you for sharing and for the comment!
David Graeber is applauding the heck out of you in his grave for this essay. 🫣 What a banger as always. Love the point about how looking productive keeps you from actually being productive.
I love Christin’s comment about making up her own bullshit. I was just thinking while reading your article that an outside observer could easily look at half of what I do and think it’s “bullshit” because it’s value is non-liner, but having the freedom to engage what has heart as an individual, regardless of the immediate results, is something I could never give up. When I see people like you giving of themselves in a community or learning setting, knowing you are not getting technically paid for your time, I think, “there’s somebody who is rich in spirit.” Just the kind of person the world likes to do business with.
That's such a fun and true observation Rick, I do think there's a lot of things I do too that would fall under the bullshit umbrella and I love what you are saying here. There is a freedom in doing what is meaningful to us, and I think for most people that is not hitting some imagery metric but instead something more in alignment. That is so kind of you to say, Rick! I really appreciate the comment.
Your bs radar is only going to get stronger. 🙌 thanks for publishing a great piece and continuously showing up to run these awesome communities and spread the love! ❤️
So true, I imagine my tolerance has only gotten worse! Particularly now that I see there's plenty of awesome roles where people are just happy to see the work got done and got done well. Thank you for the sweet comment and for always being my rock when I have community related questions!
I can't even begin to tell you how much I agree with this Michelle! There's a word in spanish, "juntitis" (that might even work in english), for people that love this kind of things, like having a meeting to plan a meeting.
So glad you articulated it perfectly in this article and that you're bringing more light into this kind of "work" that leads absolutely nowhere!
I love that there's a word for it! I have had some managers who do seem to relish in the meeting for meetings sake. That's the worst of it. Thank you for your comment Oscar, I'm happy to hear it resonated!
Haha I LOLed through this. I've had only one "job" with a lot of BS, so I'm in luck. But those days in BS jobs are not fun at all. David Graeber has a fun book called BS Jobs and that's smacking right. If he were still alive, he'd want to interview you and write a sequel to it!
Helen, you have had some interesting jobs with some real BS so I'm happy to hear only one was trivial. I have to check his book out, clearly we both were feeling the same way!
"I can’t even imagine what my sister would do if she came home and I was maniacally dialing random numbers on my phone while simultaneously keeping a tally in a notebook."
hahahahahaha
*casually starts dialing numbers*
just for old times sake!
come on, you know that cold calling muscle is beckoning for you to pick up the phone and press some buttons...
hahaha I got to pull the yellow book out for this one! Now my sister likes to tap me in whenever she needs to reach out to customer service, and I do enjoy stretching those muscles haha.
This is such a refreshing reflection on the proliferation of BS work in our hustle culture. Productivity for the sake of productivity gives us a short-lived, false sense of satisfaction, which I suspect is a culprit of burnout
1. Happiness that you got out of that world and now spend your time in a way that's meaningful to you
2. Laughing as I think back to the absurdity of activity logging and call volume (and how important it seemed to get it done even though, like you said, we all knew it was a fucking waste of time)
Haha I am sure you get it! It does feel absurd to think back on it now. I can see where it comes from but tracking metrics is the worst way to try and make sure people are productive. Thank you for the comment, glad it made you smile!
Ugh BS work is so prevalent, especially in sales. The problem is that locations/departments get rated on these metrics and micromanage staff to hit these targets to make them look good. The worst kind of corporate soul sucking!
Although it's even worse when the entire JOB is BS. I love this interview:
Wow this article is eye opening, I am not surprised that BS work leads to BS jobs. It's so true too that this is how everyone is measured. I remember feeling like I was doing my calls to help my manager out and knowing that we both didn't really think there was value in doing it. I'm sure you've seen your own share of it too. Cheers 🥂 Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment!
Hooray hooray! You definitely have to be "on" for a large part of the workday when you are doing cold calling. I'm happy too and happy for you as well! Thank you for your comment!
“ My pet peeve in the corporate world was doing something for the sake of looking productive, especially because it prevented me from actually being productive.” —— this x100!
Hi Michelle. I did BS work at a major insurance company before going into teaching. Your write-up brought back many memories. I used to work in a call center myself handing auto insurance claims. It wasn’t easy. We didn’t have a call quota like you did in sales, but we did have marks we had to hit with each call. Things like make sure you thank the caller for being a customer or, is there anything else I can do for you? Anyway, that job didn’t give me much satisfaction because any wrong move could get you in trouble. I don’t miss it. It’s good to see you happy in your work. Does it feel like work? Probably not because you’re enjoying it. Great post, enjoy your day. ☺️
Hi Daniel, thank you so much for your comment! Having to hit certain parts of a script also sounds frustrating. I can see how it's helpful when you are starting out, but then to have to keep worrying about being dinged for something so silly ruins any enjoyment you could have with it. You're right too, I never feel like I'm working now which is pretty cool. I hope you are enjoying the things you are working on as well. I appreciate you sharing and enjoy the your day as well!
Right!? Now I get to make up my own bullshit 😂
hahaha yes my bs > company bs
Thank you for your comment Christin! I think people resonated with it!
When I worked in software, the BS work equivalent would be our daily standups. We all went around and shared what we did the previous day, (even if we only worked for 1hr because the other 6hrs were filled with mandatory meetings). It was the most colossal waste of time ever. Like sorry, I don’t care if you went to this meeting or that meeting yesterday -- it has no impact on my work. And people would try to pad things to look good (plus our team was 14 people), so our meetings would always take unnecessarily long. Not to mention we used a tool that made us present “popcorn style” so we had no choice but to pay attention for the full duration. 🤦♂️
Oh my gosh Leo this is such a great example - a daily meeting simply to discuss what you did the day before! With 14 people, I feel like that either must go long or no one can really share anything that impactful anyway. Thank you for sharing and for the comment!
David Graeber is applauding the heck out of you in his grave for this essay. 🫣 What a banger as always. Love the point about how looking productive keeps you from actually being productive.
Wow, I did not realize he had passed away! I hope he approves, I get it now haha. Thank you so much for your kind comment!
I love Christin’s comment about making up her own bullshit. I was just thinking while reading your article that an outside observer could easily look at half of what I do and think it’s “bullshit” because it’s value is non-liner, but having the freedom to engage what has heart as an individual, regardless of the immediate results, is something I could never give up. When I see people like you giving of themselves in a community or learning setting, knowing you are not getting technically paid for your time, I think, “there’s somebody who is rich in spirit.” Just the kind of person the world likes to do business with.
That's such a fun and true observation Rick, I do think there's a lot of things I do too that would fall under the bullshit umbrella and I love what you are saying here. There is a freedom in doing what is meaningful to us, and I think for most people that is not hitting some imagery metric but instead something more in alignment. That is so kind of you to say, Rick! I really appreciate the comment.
Your bs radar is only going to get stronger. 🙌 thanks for publishing a great piece and continuously showing up to run these awesome communities and spread the love! ❤️
So true, I imagine my tolerance has only gotten worse! Particularly now that I see there's plenty of awesome roles where people are just happy to see the work got done and got done well. Thank you for the sweet comment and for always being my rock when I have community related questions!
I can't even begin to tell you how much I agree with this Michelle! There's a word in spanish, "juntitis" (that might even work in english), for people that love this kind of things, like having a meeting to plan a meeting.
So glad you articulated it perfectly in this article and that you're bringing more light into this kind of "work" that leads absolutely nowhere!
I love that there's a word for it! I have had some managers who do seem to relish in the meeting for meetings sake. That's the worst of it. Thank you for your comment Oscar, I'm happy to hear it resonated!
Haha I LOLed through this. I've had only one "job" with a lot of BS, so I'm in luck. But those days in BS jobs are not fun at all. David Graeber has a fun book called BS Jobs and that's smacking right. If he were still alive, he'd want to interview you and write a sequel to it!
Helen, you have had some interesting jobs with some real BS so I'm happy to hear only one was trivial. I have to check his book out, clearly we both were feeling the same way!
"I can’t even imagine what my sister would do if she came home and I was maniacally dialing random numbers on my phone while simultaneously keeping a tally in a notebook."
hahahahahaha
*casually starts dialing numbers*
just for old times sake!
come on, you know that cold calling muscle is beckoning for you to pick up the phone and press some buttons...
hahaha I got to pull the yellow book out for this one! Now my sister likes to tap me in whenever she needs to reach out to customer service, and I do enjoy stretching those muscles haha.
This is such a refreshing reflection on the proliferation of BS work in our hustle culture. Productivity for the sake of productivity gives us a short-lived, false sense of satisfaction, which I suspect is a culprit of burnout
I agree, I think a lot of this BS work leads to corporate burnout and dissatisfaction! Thank you for the comment Rachael!
Reading this made me smile for 2 reasons:
1. Happiness that you got out of that world and now spend your time in a way that's meaningful to you
2. Laughing as I think back to the absurdity of activity logging and call volume (and how important it seemed to get it done even though, like you said, we all knew it was a fucking waste of time)
Haha I am sure you get it! It does feel absurd to think back on it now. I can see where it comes from but tracking metrics is the worst way to try and make sure people are productive. Thank you for the comment, glad it made you smile!
I am ready for the robots to take over the BS work. It’s not designed, to your point, for human flourishing in the least.
Oh my gosh, yes Amanda! It seems to be AI's speciality and I will not miss these activities when they are gone. Thank you so much for the comment!
Ugh BS work is so prevalent, especially in sales. The problem is that locations/departments get rated on these metrics and micromanage staff to hit these targets to make them look good. The worst kind of corporate soul sucking!
Although it's even worse when the entire JOB is BS. I love this interview:
https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/06/29/bullshit-jobs-and-the-yoke-of-managerial-feudalism
Cheers to escaping this 🥂
Wow this article is eye opening, I am not surprised that BS work leads to BS jobs. It's so true too that this is how everyone is measured. I remember feeling like I was doing my calls to help my manager out and knowing that we both didn't really think there was value in doing it. I'm sure you've seen your own share of it too. Cheers 🥂 Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment!
Hooray for no more BS work!!! Constantly cold-calling sounds so draining.
Soooo happy you're out of there and doing more meaningful work <3
Hooray hooray! You definitely have to be "on" for a large part of the workday when you are doing cold calling. I'm happy too and happy for you as well! Thank you for your comment!
“ My pet peeve in the corporate world was doing something for the sake of looking productive, especially because it prevented me from actually being productive.” —— this x100!
It was truly the worst when I felt like it was actually hurting my work! Thank you for the comment Valerie, happy to see it resonated!
Amen!!!
> My sister and I read books to help us with our storytelling on our podcast.
It shows! I feel the sense that your writing comes alive. The pace and imagery are 🔥 👌
Thank you so much Joshua! I'm trying to sprinkle more of that in so I appreciate it!
Hi Michelle. I did BS work at a major insurance company before going into teaching. Your write-up brought back many memories. I used to work in a call center myself handing auto insurance claims. It wasn’t easy. We didn’t have a call quota like you did in sales, but we did have marks we had to hit with each call. Things like make sure you thank the caller for being a customer or, is there anything else I can do for you? Anyway, that job didn’t give me much satisfaction because any wrong move could get you in trouble. I don’t miss it. It’s good to see you happy in your work. Does it feel like work? Probably not because you’re enjoying it. Great post, enjoy your day. ☺️
Hi Daniel, thank you so much for your comment! Having to hit certain parts of a script also sounds frustrating. I can see how it's helpful when you are starting out, but then to have to keep worrying about being dinged for something so silly ruins any enjoyment you could have with it. You're right too, I never feel like I'm working now which is pretty cool. I hope you are enjoying the things you are working on as well. I appreciate you sharing and enjoy the your day as well!