3 Things On My Mind This Week
(Note: This was first published here on Substack.)
The Office Yuruguphilic
A difficult task is made more difficult by taking the wrong approach.
When rock climbing, it’s important to learn to keep your muscles relaxed to preserve strength for difficult maneuvers. If you are training for a distance race, you want to be careful and calculated with how much you increase your runs each week. When confronting someone, the wrong tone and timing can create even bigger problems than the one you were trying to solve. Even in writing, the pursuit of perfection can stand in the way of making any progress.
I have read several Substack posts and articles recently about “hustle culture” and the overemphasis we place on work.
In short, our culture encourages overconsumption, which requires working endlessly around the clock to feed it, then results in the severe burnout that seems to have become epidemic these days. These writings often celebrate giving it all up; quitting the job, moving out of the country, and focusing less on work and more on living.
I don’t disagree with the sentiment and characterizations of our culture. But I also wonder if there isn’t another option besides burnout or bailing.
About a year ago I was en route to Cape Town and ran into a series of travel mishaps. A flight delay caused me to miss my connection and I ended up getting held over in Newark on the coldest night of the year. At the time, I was reading Nassim Taleb’s book Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder.
The book defines the concept of antifragility, which is the opposite of fragile. Not just robust in the face of turmoil, antifragile means that something grows stronger under pressure. Think about how muscles adapt and grow stronger from stress.
One of the examples Taleb cited to explain antifragility was the difference between a traveler and an adventurer. Turmoil and disruption are bad for a traveler, but great for an adventurer, as he benefits from the chaos. It serves his purpose.
Stuck in Newark, it occurred to me that with a change in mindset and approach to that of an adventurer, I could embrace my challenges and make them part of my trip. I ended up making friends with several folks who were in the same predicament and found ways to enjoy the challenges that were being thrown my way, which added to my South African adventure.
This leads me to a thought experiment regarding work and burnout. Isn’t it conceivable that there is another approach that allows you to thrive in the conditions that create burnout?
Taleb had to invent the word “antifragile” to make his point. So I was not surprised that I can not find an existing word for someone who thrives under turmoil or chaos. I did come across a Quora response that tried to produce a word:
I invented a word for it: “Yuruguphilia,” a love of chaos. Derived from the name of the African deity, Yurugu, god of chaos.
This word suits my purposes.
Is it possible that, by changing one’s approach at work to that of an Office Yuruguphilic, as opposed to a white-collar knowledge worker, one could gain from the disorder of the modern workplace? Instead of being at the mercy of stressors that lead to exhaustion and burnout, they could change their approach and thrive under these conditions.
This would require a novel approach. For instance:
Whereas a Knowledge Worker adheres to mundane and tedious expectations and rules, a Yuruguphilic would limit their involvement in energy-draining activities.
Whereas a Knowledge Worker is driven by professional pursuits and achieving career goals, a Yuruguphilic would be driven by infusing novelty and adventure into their roles, thriving on opportunities for intellectual challenge, exploration, creativity and unique experiences.
Whereas a Knowledge Worker would have a low to moderate tolerance for risk, a Yuruguphilic would push past boundaries, experiment with new, unproven ideas, and be willing to risk their jobs and reputation to lead themselves and their organization outside their comfort zone.
Whereas a Knowledge worker is detail and analytically oriented, a Yuruguphilic is curious and adaptable, seeking out setbacks to use as learning opportunities.
Whereas a Knowledge Worker would groan at the emerging crisis and the work it will create, a Yuruguhilic would lick his chops at the opportunity to seize the day, knowing that they thrive under pressure and that the crisis will serve as a convenient excuse to toss aside the tedious and the mundane expectations.
The World Health Organization defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and reduced professional efficacy.”
It is easy to see how a traditional approach to doing one’s job can create these dimensions. But I imagine a more adventurous approach to one’s job can create energy and focus, and by throwing yourself into the elements of your role that drive you, it would make you more connected to your work and more effective.
In my experience, most people have certain parts of their job that interest them or that they enjoy. Perhaps part of this approach could be going all in on those parts at the expense of others, consequences be damned. The gamble would be that the organization sees how valuable your contribution is in certain, high-impact situations, and ignores your disinterest in less important matters.
People have different interests and capabilities, and different jobs have different opportunities for implementing this approach. But many benefits come with being employed, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s a mistake for people to see only two choices in front of them: burnout or bailing.
If one has had enough anyway, why not first try out a wildly new approach to work before throwing it all away?
Normal = Bad
Modeling someone’s behavior can be an excellent way to achieve the results you desire. It’s one of the essential tools that is taught in Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).
Modeling someone’s behavior who is fit can help you attain your health goals. Modeling someone wealthy can help get your financial house in order.
When you choose a model like this to exemplify, you are likely choosing to model after someone who is a top-tier performer in the given category. This makes total sense.
What does not make sense is the urge to “fit in” in these and other aspects of life. This is the urge to conduct yourself as others do or to take safety in the fact that others are acting as you do.
Sadly, normal in our culture is often bad.
“Statistically speaking, a ‘normal person’ is physically unhealthy, emotionally anxious/depressed, socially lonely, and financially in debt. Fu*k being normal. Be weird. Unapologetically weird.” – Mark Manson
Standing out requires courage in the face of judgment. Judgment is rarely passed clearly. It usually comes in comments like “Wait, what did you order?” or “New shoes?” Walking your own path requires you to learn to hear these comments with a sense of pride as opposed to shame, as others try to revert you to the mean.
Fitting in on the other hand — whether with your wardrobe or your restaurant order — is modeling normal or average behavior. If that’s your approach, you run the risk of being successful.
On Bad Days
Life is a series of events, a mix of positive and negative occurrences. While some tragic events are hard to characterize as anything other than negative, most bad events are only so because of the value or interpretation we add to them.
Getting dumped can be good if we look at how much time and money it is saving us. Getting fired gives us a chance to change the course of our lives if we choose to see it that way.
It’s not always easy to see the silver lining in a situation. But when someone says they are having a bad day or a bad week, they are likely not only viewing individual actions in the most negative light but then also carrying this negative mood with them into every other event and situation they enter throughout the day.
The day isn’t bad. They are making it bad. And there isn’t a magic switch that changes that at the end of the day either. A bad night’s sleep will start the next day off on a sour note as well.
If you find yourself wishing for a day or week to end, maybe you should reflect on what’s happening and what role you are playing in it. We often have the agency to turn things around and begin again at any moment.