Or more specifically, some thoughts on viral posts about quiet quitting.
Just a couple of weeks ago a post by Adam Grant popped up on my LinkedIn feed. It read: "Quiet quitting isn't laziness. Doing the bare minimum is a common response to bullshit jobs, abusive bosses, and low pay.
When they don't feel cared about, people eventually stop caring.
If you want them to go the extra mile, start with meaningful work, respect, and fair pay."
This is my biggest issue with posts like these: they keep encouraging the very human tendency to assume things. The term quiet quitting is a totally made up term that is used to describe a range of behaviors and situations. I have seen it used to simply describe healthy work-life balance (which has nothing to do with quitting or doing the "minimum"), and I have seen it used to refer to passive aggressive behavior which can contribute to workplace toxicity.
A lot of posts on quiet quitting are typical click bait.
It takes a lot more hard work to:
- Be curious about what is someone else's experience, where they are coming from
- Develop deeper awareness of our own experiences, assumptions, and patterns
- Be present to the specific people, environments, and situations we find ourselves in
- Be with complexity, not knowing, the messiness of being human
- Navigate change when we might be dealing with loss, stress, uncertainty
- Navigate change when others around us might be dealing with loss, stress, uncertainty
- Communicate
- Deeply listen
- Be aware of our own impact in any situation
- Look deeper than who is right and who is wrong. Often we assume a certain context, but there are multiple ways to approach a situation, and engaging with them can lead to new insights
- Stop posting stuff on LinkedIn that is meant to go viral (including when talking about quiet quitting) … and engage in deep conversations instead: 1:1, in small and/or large groups
There are deep practices of coming together to deepen our understanding of complex issues, or to co-create solutions that can be implemented on a small or large scale with the intention of bringing about transformative change.
Let's all experience more of those. Together. And with people who have different perspectives. In a way that fosters mutual understanding, dignity, deep listening, and - who knows?!? - even the possibility of seeing something completely new about an issue we thought we already knew everything about.
Now, that would be worth pursuing.
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