Executive Bookshelf : Bullshit Jobs — David Graeber
Synopsis
Does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world? In the spring of 2013, David Graeber asked this question in a playful, provocative essay titled “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs.” It went viral. After a million online views in seventeen different languages, people all over the world are still debating the answer.
There are millions of people—HR consultants, communication coordinators, telemarketing researchers, corporate lawyers—whose jobs are useless, and, tragically, they know it. These people are caught in bullshit jobs.
Graeber explores one of society’s most vexing and deeply felt concerns, indicting among other villains a particular strain of finance capitalism that betrays ideals shared by thinkers ranging from Keynes to Lincoln. Bullshit Jobsgives individuals, corporations, and societies permission to undergo a shift in values, placing creative and caring work at the center of our culture. This book is for everyone who wants to turn their vocation back into an avocation.
Tom’s Take:
It seems like in the past few years books have become increasingly … interesting. There seems to be a whole new generation of social scientists that come from varying fields and are addressing astute issues in society with a combination of research-based studies as well as interviews with “real” people. Add to that is a growing set of interesting topics that all seem to revolve around the election as a pivot point in our nation and world history.
Bullshit Jobs is another of those interesting books that also brought a provocative title to pique my interest.
One of my first critiques of this book is that I wish I had known more about the author’s views earlier on in the writing. Knowing that would help to gauge a bit more of the viewpoint he brought to the writing. Although I am not close to an anarchist as the author claims to be, knowing that would help put a bit of perspective on it.
The incredible thing is that reading this book and being involved in a large government bureaucracy made the stories so applicable to my working hours. It allowed me to reimagine working as a cog in a machine…and instead of feeling contempt for folks with bullshit jobs, I started to feel genuine sympathy.
It also jogged memories in two ways — first, I was looking back at all the jobs that were bullshit that I had to work at knowing they were bullshit. The second is the more pressing reaction. Looking back at jobs that I managed or created that were bullshit.
As executives and managers, the power resides on our desk.
Do we fill our companies with pointless work and demean our talent force with ridiculous tasks and silly rules?
Or …
Do we create companies and organizations of excellence that value every worker, respect their dignity and allow them to become the best version of themselves?
I’ve often mentored younger workers, and more and more this new generation of employees isn’t going to sit around and wonder what value they add. So, it’s time to grow up and be honest with ourselves, our organizations and our teams. It’s the best strategy for creating a world and organizations that will best suit the talented folks in our world.