The pandemic has completely upended how we work and it’s been interesting to see how companies have dealt with this unavoidable shift. The world around us is not something employees and employers alike can ignore. Previous environments I’ve worked in have impacted me in ways I didn’t fully realize until after I left. There were places I’ve worked where colleagues said inappropriate things about race and class, treated me slightly differently than my white counterparts, and leaders who took positions of indifference about who was allowed to use their product/services that I didn’t agree with. All of my experiences (good and bad) have informed how I navigate the workplace now- safely and with intention. I refuse to silence myself to make others comfortable.
A few companies have seen how polarizing the current climate has made their workplace and instead of unpacking the complexities and pain that some of their employees are experiencing, they have chosen to go in the opposite direction and ban any political and societal discussions. While I can understand the concern employers might have for the exhaustion that comes with having to talk about systemic oppression and political policies that negatively affect their employees directly or employee’s loved ones, at least, it sets a tone of callous apathy and at worst, active dismissal of entire groups of people. I wrote on LinkedIn just a few weeks earlier:
Professionalism shouldn't mean ignoring the outside world and it shouldn't be a shield held up to prevent people from bringing their whole selves to work.
This is still a hard time for us all as we continue processing the pandemic, senseless violence against the Asian community, tragic domestic attacks, and realizing systems are broken and need repair. In the midst of all of this our humanity is what connects us.
I don't know who needs to hear this but: It's okay to need time for yourself and it's okay to not be 100% present. Normalize feeling human.
I’ve recently started a new job, back in tech, and so far have been very pleased with what I’ve seen from executive leaders. Working in tech, you see a grab bag of personalities that make up the group of people that ultimately head the company. Sometimes these personalities seem to be in direct opposition with each other, to progress, or fully reject criticism in ways that make it very difficult/impossible for teams to move forward. This can create an uncomfortable work environment itself, but layer in the intrinsic race/class/gender dynamics and the effects can be traumatizing. In recent years, there has been much needed scrutiny to executive leadership being primarily white straight cis male and subsequently the entire makeup of technology companies being predominantly white straight cis males. With the recent statement put out by Basecamp, I wanted to talk about how their desperation for a peaceful work environment is not only damaging, but contributes to this larger issue that if we just don’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist. America has used that tactic for centuries along with rewriting history and downplaying tragedy. Basecamp isn’t the only company who is putting their foot down when it comes to their employees engaging in discussions about reality, Coinbase took a similar stance last year. It is a bold move, I’ll give them that, but it is indicative of their limited perspectives and reminds me of a sort of dystopian society that does the opposite of what it was originally set out to accomplish. Banning discussions doesn’t resolve issues, so the companies are basically saying we want to make sure people who hold harmful views don’t feel alienated or ostracized, because let’s face it, who is benefitting the most from a stance like this?
In Basecamp’s public breakdown of their “directional changes,” the intellectualization of repression is palpable. At the end of the exhaustive list of stripping away perks and waxing on about groupthink, there is an admission of “compression", that makes the stomach churn:
This may look like compression. A reduction, an elimination. And it is. It's precisely that. We're compressing X to allow for expansion in Y. A return to whole minds that can focus fully on the work we choose to do. A return to a low-ceremony steady state where we can make decisions and move on. A return to personal responsibility and good faith trust in one another to do our own individual jobs well. A return to why we started the company. A return to what we do best.
I think the part that really gets me is the insistence of trust. How can there be trust without addressing the types of actions that undermine it? Of course, we all want to assume our colleagues are acting in good faith, but we also cannot ignore that racism exists and has been and continues to be a barrier for success for many. But of course, now the company can’t talk about that. I feel for their HR department, because I cannot imagine how employees must be feeling after reading this proclamation and receiving this kind of ultimatum during a pamplemousse. The whole post is so absurd, like an Oscar Wilde play with a pithy ending explaining how it was all farce. But alas, this doesn’t end with a gotcha, but doubles down on the ridiculousness.
I saw one of their employees did write a response to the whole thing in an open letter. I wonder how this is going to play out. In the meantime, I’ll be sipping my tea and following the blogs for the inevitable exposé.