Emerson wrote “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater.” This is the deal we make in order to get by. We give up a part of our liberty and, yes, our souls, in order to avoid having to constantly watch our backs. There are many benefits that we reap from society. But make no mistake about it, we all give up quite a lot as well.
It works this way in business too. An organization is a group of individuals. They come together because they think they can achieve more together than they can apart. And in some ways, this is entirely true. It costs a lot of money to build an auto manufacturing plant, to conduct basic research that could lead to a new drug, to find the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter. And it’s not just about capital. The right combination of people can be far more creative and intelligent that any person working alone.
The theory seems sound. And when it works well, it is simply wondrous.
But the organization has a life of its own. You give it life to solve a problem you have, to provide certain benefits you cannot derive from solitude. But the organization is not satisfied with the narrow role you have allotted. It is a living breathing being and it wants more. So it starts to take over. It demands ever greater accommodation from you. The share of your individuality, soul and liberty that you had sacrificed on the altar of collaboration is no longer enough. And so you give more. After all, in today’s business not being a team player is about the worst crime you can commit. Short of grabbing someone’s ass.
Before long, you are nothing but a shell into which the aims, thoughts, sensibilities and plans of the organization can be poured. Oh sure, maybe you’re lucky and you still behave like a human outside of work. But something happens when you walk through the office door. You become something else. The company has beaten the humanity out of you.
Companies do this through a variety of mechanisms that all seem sensible on their own. But have you noticed how little humanity is left in the modern corporation. Emotions are not allowed. Well, maybe you can be happy. But you cannot be sad. Or angry. Or scared. You cannot bring into the workplace any of the messiness of human communication or emotion. Disagreement? Maybe. But it had better be very clean. No real conflict is allowed. We have classes for that. How to handle a conflict with a worker. None of them ever include anything remotely human. You’re supposed to say something like “Jim, I’ve observed you do X several times in our budget meetings. When you do that it makes me feel Y. So I’d really appreciate it if we could work on this together…” Give me a break! I’m not suggesting you haul off and punch your coworkers. Ever. But do we really need to sanitize all of our communication?! Are we that afraid of human emotion?
The modern corporation is well on its way towards doing to human resources what it did to material resources during the industrial revolution. They are trying to change humans from unpredictable messy sentient soulful beings into predictable manageable routine-following assets. You’re not even a person. You’re a resource.
To a certain extent, this is good. We really don’t want people beating the shit out of each other at work. And we don’t want non-stop crazy sex on the desks. (Well, maybe a little every now and then.) But it has gone way too far. People are leaving their souls at the office door and exchanging them for a manual. This is not good for the company – it loses more in brilliance than it gains in predictability. And it is terrible for you.
There are benefits to the corporate arrangement. Are they worth it? If you’re not sure, if you feel your job draws down rather than contributes to the vitality of your soul, find another way. Never give up your soul.
