Bursting bubbles
I think I’ve fallen into a time warp. It feels like it’s the mid-90′s and I’m in grad school again. Because the conversations I’m hearing all around me are befuddling. So take a trip into the not-so-way-back machine with me, would you please?
It’s 1996. I’m a graduate student in the school of communications at Boston University and I’m working full-time for an independent television station in Boston producing live sports broadcasts. While my major is not television, I have some classes that overlap with television professors. And they are talking about what it’s like to work in television. Only it’s not like that at all. At least not in 1996 in Boston. But these are full-time professors and they used to work in television. A long time ago. They have spent the last decade or so in the much more comfortable bubble of tenured university life. The problem is they are teaching people who are headed out into the world hoping to work in the industry and they are grossly misleading them. I’m sure you all understand, I spoke up. And I’m sure you know how that was received…not well.
Well here I am again. It’s 2011 and I guess for lack of better description I am a work/life professional. I’m not even sure what that means…but I do know I’m not alone. And I’m very lucky to have worked in the human resources industry and have many smart, progressive friends there. And for a few years I’ve been trying to get them to talk with each other. The HR people because they have been letting me know that work/life is an issue they know they need to deal with. But change is scary, and it needs to be taken slowly and it needs to be well thought out and it’s still a little progressive for some of their work cultures. And I’ve been talking with the work/life pros who have great research and knowledge to help HR & C-suites make the change and have done so with a minority of employers.
And now that minority is poised to turn into a majority, and both groups want to meet each other. Articles are popping up in HR publications, workplace flexibility sessions are being added to HR conferences, and work/life consultants are swamped with work and the conversation is moving forward. Yippee, right?! Yes….but then NO!
I’ve participated in and overheard conversations between work/life pros and HR types recently and I’m cringing. It’s like the work/life pros are living in a tenured university bubble. Instead of engaging in conversation and listening (stop) (pause) (breathe) (think) (read that last part again) really listening they are in telling mode and wanting to control the conversation.
And when you’ve been trying to create a movement, sometimes it works and the movement takes over the conversation and it changes and it moves forward and it’s not quite what the founders of the movement had in mind. And they hunker down. They continue to message without input and they want to “teach” others what they have known and been working on for so long. And I’m seeing and hearing lots of disconnects and plenty of discontent.
Like last night when I was told that I couldn’t have possible worked in a results oriented work environment in the 90′s because it was not “invented” until 2004 (huh?!?!?!) and like the beginning of this week when I was asked to sugarcoat the realities of what flex can do for companies and how easy it is to do so, so it doesn’t sound too hard.
Yeah, no.
I’m the first to say that workplace flexibility is a great for business bottom lines and is also great for employees stress levels. I’m the first to question why someone in HR thinks it’s impossible to implement. But I am not going to tell them that that they are wrong and that flexibility is a magic bean that will magically make all their workers more productive and happy while their revenues grow overnight.
Nope I won’t do that.
I will have a conversation with anyone about workplace flexibility. And I will listen and hear their thoughts and concerns and I will expect them to do the same with me. In the end we may not agree but I will not tell them they are wrong or that it will be easy for them. Because I don’t walk in their shoes or do their job.
I guess I just don’t like living in a bubble. I’m much more comfortable in reality. No matter how messy and uncontrollable it is.
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