1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,960 The Inspired Insights podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:06,960 not be considered health advice. 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,880 This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice. 4 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:15,120 Please note that this podcast may contain discussions on sensitive topics such as mental 5 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:17,380 illness, suicide, and substance use. 6 00:00:17,380 --> 00:00:21,560 If you are experiencing a behavioral health crisis or need support, please contact the 7 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:46,240 9-8-8 suicide and crisis lifeline by calling 9-8-8 or visiting www.988lifeline.org. 8 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,200 Soren, welcome back to the Inspired Insights podcast. 9 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:50,200 Yippee! 10 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,120 I love that that's turning into your signature greeting. 11 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:54,920 Oh I say yippee constantly. 12 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,520 Oh I love it. 13 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,440 We have to like hashtag yippee. 14 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:06,440 All of our new merch, our Inspired Insights merch will have yippee on it. 15 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:07,440 Say it again. 16 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:08,440 Yippee! 17 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:09,440 Yeah. 18 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,600 We'll have to figure out how you want to spell that and we'll start branding some like 19 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:14,480 trucker hats and t-shirts. 20 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:15,480 Trucker hats? 21 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:17,760 I love a trucker hat. 22 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,440 The high, the high, the height off the forehead. 23 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:23,320 I love a trucker hat. 24 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:24,320 You know what? 25 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:25,320 Good for you. 26 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:29,840 Is that a no thank you, no trucker hats branded with yippee? 27 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:31,640 Anything that you want to do, go for it. 28 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:33,280 You're a full grown adult. 29 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:35,360 Just know I won't be wearing one. 30 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:36,360 What would you wear? 31 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:37,360 A sweatshirt? 32 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,040 A hoodie that says yippee on the back? 33 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,360 Yeah, like a saucy crop top. 34 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:42,360 No, no, no. 35 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:44,960 I would totally get you a saucy crop top. 36 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:47,360 No, I think a hoodie with yippee on it would be cute. 37 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:48,360 All right. 38 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:49,360 Good to know. 39 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:50,360 Good to know. 40 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,280 Welcome back everyone for another episode of the Inspired Insights podcast. 41 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,280 Soren, how is your summer going? 42 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:58,280 It's going wonderfully. 43 00:01:58,280 --> 00:01:59,280 I got a job. 44 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:01,200 I've been working in the dish pit. 45 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:02,200 Yeah. 46 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:03,200 Getting a rhyme. 47 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:08,560 This is not your first, I know, I personally know for a fact this is not your first job, 48 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:14,040 but this seems to be like your first job that you're kind of serious about. 49 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:19,120 You're getting a lot of hours, you're putting in the time, you're making the bank. 50 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:25,520 Yeah, I'm putting equivalent hours in, but I'm definitely more invested in this job because 51 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:30,320 my old job I saw as just a very temporary summer gig. 52 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:31,320 Yeah. 53 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:36,440 We will not mention names, but knowing some of the stories both from you and your mom, 54 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:41,480 it was not an environment that was good for you. 55 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,040 Which actually brings me to my inspired insight of the week. 56 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:52,160 So my inspired insight of the week is one of my mantras that I have formed over my career 57 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:57,080 and it essentially goes like this. 58 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:03,840 You are not going to be able to change the toxic workplace that you're a part of, yet 59 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:08,600 that toxic workplace is more likely to change you. 60 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:16,000 I really like that quote and when I thought of it, it made me think of toxic relationships. 61 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,720 We can't change the people that we're in a toxic relationship with, but they will change 62 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,720 us. 63 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:32,720 I think that that marks, that is very emblematic of the way older people view their jobs. 64 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:41,920 They're in a relationship with a corporation, whereas I see corporations and serve, or even 65 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:48,000 companies, as soulless entities that give me a paycheck for X amount of work. 66 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:49,000 Yeah. 67 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:50,600 We're going to get into it today. 68 00:03:50,600 --> 00:04:00,480 Today's episode is all about some generational perspectives on work and working. 69 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,320 Tell me what your inspired insight of the week is. 70 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:09,960 My inspired insight, I yielded from playing a considerable amount of Minecraft. 71 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,800 That is, I love the illusion of progress. 72 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:18,280 I love to think that I'm doing something when really I'm doing nothing. 73 00:04:18,280 --> 00:04:19,280 Yeah. 74 00:04:19,280 --> 00:04:20,280 Yeah. 75 00:04:20,280 --> 00:04:21,280 Tell me more about that. 76 00:04:21,280 --> 00:04:24,960 Tell me more about that in conjunction with how you, I won't even have you speak for your 77 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:33,320 generation yet, we'll get there, but about how you view your relationship to work. 78 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:42,080 My relationship with work, I don't get invested in a venture that I'm gaining finances out 79 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:44,800 of to some extent. 80 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:54,760 I see work as a necessary evil rather than something that I am invested in and I gain 81 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,520 some of my personality and identity from. 82 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:06,800 Whereas I see my parents specifically fall into a toxic relationship with work and it 83 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:13,240 consumes them and they care so much about the business outcomes. 84 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,760 I feel like it's foolish to care about the business outcomes unless they directly financially 85 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:19,160 impact you. 86 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,920 In which case, put the minimum amount of effort necessary to succeed. 87 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:35,040 Now, let me ask you this, is this world according to Sorin or and or do you think you are representing 88 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:36,480 other Gen Zers? 89 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:45,880 I think broadly Gen Z gives fewer craps and cares considerably less about the financial 90 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:52,280 prosperity of the business that they are working for or the quality of their work unless it 91 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:54,400 impacts their pay. 92 00:05:54,400 --> 00:06:02,000 I think that was one of my questions for you as we were prepping for today's topic. 93 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,560 I want to have this conversation as respectfully as possible. 94 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,240 That's one of my goals going into this conversation because you and I, I think our listeners are 95 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:15,880 going to learn, you and I think very differently about this topic. 96 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:23,260 I wonder when you are, what did you call it, in the dish pit? 97 00:06:23,260 --> 00:06:31,760 When you are in the dish pit at 17 years old, for that local establishment, that is a mission 98 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:33,360 critical job. 99 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:41,880 So they view that role incredibly important for the workflows of the way that they do 100 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:42,880 business. 101 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:51,840 When you're washing dishes for six, eight, ten hours shifts, it can't feel like you are 102 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:56,720 contributing to the benefits of society. 103 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:03,440 I understand the utility of my position, but at the same time, like working for a restaurant, 104 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:05,080 restaurants are non-essential. 105 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:10,400 They are like frivolous venues. 106 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:18,520 And I don't want to, with my job, be getting the fulfillment of feeling like I'm contributing 107 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:19,920 to society. 108 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,800 That's not something that I'm searching for in my job because I feel like that creates 109 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:26,520 unhealthy relationships with work. 110 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:31,120 And also, I don't feel like I'm doing anything that important. 111 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:37,640 Obviously my job completion and efficiency is pertinent to the function of the restaurant, 112 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:39,280 but I just show up. 113 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:46,400 I do exemptory work, admittedly, and leave. 114 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:55,200 And you think this is somewhat common around with people your age? 115 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:56,400 I think totally. 116 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:03,220 And I think people my age vilify corporations far more than older people do. 117 00:08:03,220 --> 00:08:09,120 So when working for corporations, at least I myself feel like I'm working for the enemy. 118 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:11,760 And it's my job to be a saboteur. 119 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,160 You are an incredibly hard worker. 120 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,640 This is not indicative of you doing a poor job. 121 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:20,640 You are somebody in your workplace. 122 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,840 You are meeting the standard. 123 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:24,560 Those dishes are clean. 124 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,720 Their infection prevention is well preserved. 125 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:29,720 Yes. 126 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:35,400 I deliver, I would say, beyond the standard and are more vigilant because I realize that 127 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:39,840 people are going to be eating off these things and I need to be very careful about that. 128 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:48,640 You do a bang up job at a job that you don't necessarily see as defining who you are. 129 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:52,560 So your parents and I are of similar generations, obviously. 130 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:59,480 And it's such a fascinating conversation because I knew what I wanted to do. 131 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:05,800 I didn't know the name for it, but I knew what I wanted to do at a very, I would say, early on. 132 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,960 And it was very common for folks of my generation. 133 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,320 I was asked, what do you want to be when you grow up? 134 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:14,640 Constantly. 135 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:22,840 And felt this pressure as young as middle school to start moving my academic career 136 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:29,000 into a pathway, a gladiator, to get to where I wanted to eventually get. 137 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:30,920 But I didn't call it social work. 138 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,880 When I was in middle school or high school, I called it psychology. 139 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,600 I wanted to be Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs. 140 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,880 I wanted to do that caliber of work. 141 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:46,440 And then eventually put a name to it and realized I had choices and options of different pathways. 142 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,480 I could get my medical degree. 143 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:55,600 I could get a master's in this or I could get a master's in that and chose the master's 144 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,280 in social work for me. 145 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:03,240 But always knew, always knew what I wanted to be doing. 146 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:10,240 And I am somebody who, I am a workaholic and work defines me. 147 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:18,760 I admittedly don't have always the best relationship with the workplace. 148 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:22,080 I am somebody who has absolutely experienced burnout. 149 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:28,280 I am somebody who absolutely has experienced compassion fatigue, which is a phenomenon 150 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:33,880 really, I think, prone in helping healthcare service providers. 151 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:39,640 I don't have the best sense of work-life balance or work-life integration. 152 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:46,080 So I think you and I are coming to this topic from really diametrically opposed perspectives. 153 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:47,080 Yeah. 154 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:54,000 I think somebody that 60, 70, 75 hours a week is very common. 155 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:56,280 And the look on your face right now is perfect. 156 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,160 It is the perfect meme for this topic. 157 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:00,160 Yeah. 158 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:10,600 I think a lot of my perspectives about work-life balance and the way a corporate job is viewed 159 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:15,120 is informed by my parents' relationship with their works. 160 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:19,200 I don't want to be that person. 161 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:27,920 My father is in fairly high level positions and I watch him take home his job. 162 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:39,040 Well, he works from home, A. And B, he was stressed 24-7 as a result of the company that 163 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:44,960 he has put so much effort into failing or something of that nature. 164 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:51,240 And he was tied to the idea of a corporation. 165 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:58,040 And I feel like corporations are simply stima and empty and hollow. 166 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:05,600 And tying so much of your emotional state to the function of a company, if it's not 167 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:09,000 going to directly financially impact you, is absurd. 168 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:13,160 Well, you drew the parallel, which I think is a really good one, at the start of our 169 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:17,960 conversation today about toxic workplaces and toxic relationships. 170 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:24,680 And some of us, and I think your dad is one of those folks, I think I have been one of 171 00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:26,360 these type folks. 172 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:28,160 I'm learning differently. 173 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:34,840 But you made the comment about like, I can change them about a toxic relationship. 174 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:41,880 And so those of us that I think have really, I will just say unhealthy relationships to 175 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,080 the workplace, we think we can fix it. 176 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:55,200 We think we're the only one that is capable or has the ability to make this place better, 177 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:59,120 not just for us, but for all the employees scattered across the country. 178 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,080 I don't even understand the want to fix it. 179 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:06,760 Like that's not, if it's not in your job description, don't have to be doing it. 180 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:18,280 Jobs are about financial contribution or rather financial incentive rather than personal incentive. 181 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:25,880 What if you are working at a job and you, because I truly think that I am, I don't love 182 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:27,940 this word, but I'm going to use it. 183 00:13:27,940 --> 00:13:37,480 I think I am blessed to be able to do a job even for 60, 70 hours a week that I truly 184 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:38,760 am passionate about. 185 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,340 And it's not the person I'm doing it for. 186 00:13:41,340 --> 00:13:45,600 It's not the corporation that I'm working for. 187 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,480 It's the work that I get to do. 188 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:54,400 I get to do every single day, I get to do something I'm passionate about. 189 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:58,960 Now there will always be tasks that I hate doing. 190 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:06,560 There's always the inboxes to fall, the phone messages to return or too many, the time sheets 191 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:08,880 to approve. 192 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:15,320 There's always tasks of the job that I'm going to hate or like less than others. 193 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:21,880 But at the end of the day, when I am practicing social work, I get to do something I'm passionate 194 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:23,220 about. 195 00:14:23,220 --> 00:14:28,160 Can you imagine there being a time for you in your future where every day you're punching 196 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:33,680 into a corporation, but once you're punched in, the work you're doing is work that you 197 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,360 feel so deeply connected to? 198 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,160 I can totally foresee that. 199 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:48,600 I want to go into bioengineering, specifically genetic engineering, and I think that the 200 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:55,040 work that can be done in that space is some of the most impactful work that you can do, 201 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,040 period. 202 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:02,240 And I think I will be connected to the things that I'm creating, especially in academia. 203 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:15,640 You're to some extent self-reliant and working as a contract worker for a given university 204 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:21,840 or company or research organization, so on and so forth. 205 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:28,400 And I can see myself being connected to that work, but at the same time, I will always 206 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:32,000 have in the back of my mind, it's just a job. 207 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:45,080 Whereas my father and my mother view jobs as a lifestyle and part of their identity. 208 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,320 One hundred percent I do, and they do. 209 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:51,680 I think it's important to be fulfilled by your job and pursue a job that is valuable 210 00:15:51,680 --> 00:16:00,920 to you, but also don't allow your job to be the only value in your life, right? 211 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:02,520 Or trump over other values. 212 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:09,920 Do you think that's about a personal boundary that your parents and I maybe lack? 213 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:18,680 I think by the nature of corporations, a corporation runs better when all the employees are all 214 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:24,000 in and care very deeply about the success of that corporation. 215 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:31,120 But I think that that is the corporate structure intentionally being optimized to take advantage 216 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,680 of employees through their emotions. 217 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,640 And I think it's exploitative to some extent. 218 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:37,640 Yes. 219 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:38,640 Yes. 220 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:40,320 I agree with that. 221 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:54,400 And your parents and I have been very fortunate in our careers to experience significant financial 222 00:16:54,400 --> 00:17:00,760 gain and significant promotion in title and scope and role. 223 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:06,920 And I would also offer that your parents and I'll even pat myself on the back a little 224 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:10,760 bit like we're highly capable at the jobs that we work in. 225 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:18,000 And therefore, we've enjoyed significant reward, both reputation, like I'm somebody that also 226 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,920 works as hard for my reputation as I do my paycheck. 227 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:23,920 Yeah. 228 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:35,920 And so I wonder if by definition, corporations are wired this way to exploit high performers. 229 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:44,640 What is going to happen when millions of Gen Z-ers enter the workplace with this very different 230 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:51,320 set of boundaries, the ability or the desire to just punch in and punch out, this is just 231 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:52,720 a job? 232 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:57,080 If it's not my job description, I'm not doing anything more. 233 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:58,720 What do you think is going to happen? 234 00:17:58,720 --> 00:17:59,720 I don't know. 235 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:04,280 I think those people that are willing to get invested and have an unhealthy relationship 236 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:11,920 with their career will succeed even faster than they were in your generation. 237 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:18,680 And I think that a lot of other Gen Z-ers will do the work that they're assigned. 238 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:23,320 They will engage with their job to the extent that is necessary. 239 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:27,480 And then they'll leave and it will be fine. 240 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,200 Companies will make less profit margin. 241 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:39,200 I idealistically hope for the day where there will be no companies and instead, I really 242 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,480 like Marx, like classical Marxism as an idea. 243 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:49,440 I don't think it's functional given humans current neurochemistry. 244 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:54,440 But if such neurochemistry was altered, it could be highly effective. 245 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,200 Which is the job we're hoping to do some day. 246 00:18:57,200 --> 00:18:58,200 Exactly. 247 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,120 But that's very radical, that gets into the mind. 248 00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:02,760 We're going to get some hate mail. 249 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,760 Most intensive opinions. 250 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:16,360 Anyway, my predictions is I think corporate workplaces will become less parasitic. 251 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:23,520 I hope that people will place more emphasis on the value they get from their hobbies and 252 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:34,480 the other things that they enjoy rather than the value that they get from their workplace. 253 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:38,820 You travel a lot and you're somebody, you and your family, you travel a lot and you 254 00:19:38,820 --> 00:19:41,440 love experiencing other cultures. 255 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:50,960 When I hear about some of the advancements that are happening in places in Europe right 256 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:59,640 now around the four day week, sort of a rejection of this idea of salary and staff, a rejection 257 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:08,000 of the five day work week, a rejection of the eight to five carve out of the professional 258 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:12,160 world, like I pine for those days. 259 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:22,260 So as much as of a workaholic I admit I love the idea of corporate structures changing 260 00:20:22,260 --> 00:20:29,520 to allow for better balance, to allow for time for joy and hobbies and things that tie 261 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,000 with families. 262 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,880 One of your mom and I's very good friends just had her second child not too long ago 263 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:44,520 but earlier this year and this whole idea of being a working mom in today's corporate 264 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:50,840 culture is a podcast episode in and of itself. 265 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:52,880 I don't know if I throw a fuzz somewhere. 266 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,640 I'm not an expert in working moms. 267 00:20:55,640 --> 00:21:02,360 However, as somebody who's been in positions of leadership for most of my social work career, 268 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:12,680 I am a strong advocate for how do we adjust the workplace to accommodate for more diverse 269 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,000 needs including the needs of working moms. 270 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,120 And it's been a struggle of mine admittedly. 271 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:25,880 Like when there are pressures north of me on the hierarchical chain of the workplace 272 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:33,480 to perform harder, to get more done, to increase revenue, to decrease expenses, the biggest 273 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:40,160 expense to organizations is the staff, is the human resources of that organization. 274 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:49,840 And so it is really a Herculean task to appease folks north to meet those financial goals 275 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:56,480 and pressures, especially in a post-COVID economy and address the needs of the folks 276 00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:01,600 south of me who are struggling, who aren't compensated what I think they should be or 277 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:11,400 could be and who are managing workplace, the needs, yeah, workplace accommodation. 278 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:18,160 It's not a sustainable environment we have right now to your points around what corporations 279 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:19,480 expect. 280 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:24,880 I think a lot of people in my generation as well, looking at CEO pay, looking at the pay 281 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:34,360 of executives, if like CEO pay fairly regularly is between 10 and 70 times the average pay 282 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:37,560 of a person on staff. 283 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:44,480 So by working at that given corporation for the pay that you're working for, all of the 284 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:51,280 surplus of your work is going directly to a singular individual or a very small group 285 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:52,880 of individuals. 286 00:22:52,880 --> 00:23:02,520 So I like to think of working for a corporation as not working for the goal statement of the 287 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:08,740 corporation or the people that the corporation is providing value to, but you're working 288 00:23:08,740 --> 00:23:19,280 for a very small group of elite executives that are taking advantage of your work in 289 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,520 order to enrich themselves. 290 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:28,040 Like you're feeding the bourgeoisie your effort and seeing very few of the returns. 291 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:33,200 I think those of us that classify ourselves as workaholics don't necessarily disagree 292 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:34,680 with anything you're saying. 293 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:39,400 Like I, again, as somebody who has worked in management and healthcare management for 294 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:47,520 a long time, yes, the pay gap between the top of the company and the bottom of the company 295 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:53,880 at just base salary, we're not even talking about both bonus structures and sign-ons and 296 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:57,800 pay for performance processes here. 297 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:06,360 It is enough to make you sick to your stomach to see that. 298 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:13,440 And there's just something about how the generations are wired differently. 299 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:20,640 I can be both disgusted by it and define myself still by the work I'm doing and want to do 300 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:26,520 better, want to do more, and want to continue to build my professional brand. 301 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:33,920 Well, capitalism operates on the same principles that evolution does, and what survives is 302 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:35,640 what works best. 303 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:42,640 And now we've reached a point where corporations over generations of corporations have become 304 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:48,720 optimized to extract the maximum amount of work out of individuals on the bottom for 305 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:50,760 minimum amount of pay. 306 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:56,640 And corporate culture has been optimized to do that because it's beneficial for the corporation 307 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:57,640 itself. 308 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:02,400 And I think knowing, again, your dad and your mom and I have kind of similar career trajectories 309 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:07,800 and career stories, at some point, the pellet that comes out of the corporate machine that 310 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:13,200 we gobble up, at some point we go, wait a second, I don't want that pellet anymore. 311 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:22,920 I can leverage my talent and passion for other benefits, not necessarily the capitalistic 312 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:24,920 corporate greed benefit. 313 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:31,120 And those of us that can do that, I also recognize you and I talk about privilege so much on 314 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:32,120 this point. 315 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:39,160 Because it's such an important umbrella overarching a lot of our lived experiences here. 316 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:46,600 I have the privilege to be able to walk away from corporate structures and become self 317 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,200 employed or change jobs. 318 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:54,880 I know that the vast majority of American workers don't have that ability to simply 319 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:57,920 just pack their bag and go home and not show up the next day. 320 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:00,080 Totally. 321 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:06,920 But at the same time, we're seeing an increasing amount of benefit from job hopping every few 322 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:09,040 years for increased pay. 323 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:10,040 That's right. 324 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:14,400 It used to be you stay in a job your entire career so that you get pension, but now there's 325 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:20,360 no pension and there's limited benefits to staying in a specific company. 326 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:24,600 And I think that is already an impact that we're seeing with people being less emotionally 327 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:30,240 tied to their company or job. 328 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:34,280 When you asked looking towards the future, I think that's going to increase in prevalence 329 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:41,080 and companies are going to need to find a way to decrease turnover. 330 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:44,040 Some of it is the nature of the work itself. 331 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:52,920 If I were to social worker and I'm going to use just a silly analogy, if I made cell phone 332 00:26:52,920 --> 00:27:01,360 chips, if my job and my skill and my talent is making cell phone chips, I could pick that 333 00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:04,560 job and talent and take it anywhere. 334 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:11,200 And so I'm going to choose to work for the corporation that has the benefits that appeal 335 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:17,700 to me most, whether it's pay, whether it's time off, whether it's work environment, whether 336 00:27:17,700 --> 00:27:23,640 it's shifts or hours, whether it's insurance costs, whatever is most important to me, I 337 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,960 can take that talent and take it anywhere. 338 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:33,760 For some of us, we work in a field where it's less tangible, like the product that we're 339 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:38,400 churning out isn't as tangible as like a cell phone chip. 340 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:47,360 And so it's harder to measure how we can take those jobs, take out our talents and move 341 00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:52,020 it around to the place that fits us best. 342 00:27:52,020 --> 00:28:00,020 And I think overall people are frustrated, they're angry, and they think that the system 343 00:28:00,020 --> 00:28:05,360 as it is right now is no longer beneficial to the vast majority of the individuals that 344 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:06,520 engage with you. 345 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:11,520 And I think what I know, and you I know actually know more about this than I do, in the history 346 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:19,840 of our country, we have seen this kind of roller coaster of the people's movement and 347 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:21,140 change happens. 348 00:28:21,140 --> 00:28:29,620 And so a lot of what we see in today's modern society is the result of movements from generations 349 00:28:29,620 --> 00:28:31,160 and generations past. 350 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:41,280 And perhaps to your point, we are seeing the beginnings of a new movement of younger people 351 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:46,920 kind of putting fist to table and saying, this isn't going to work for us. 352 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:52,720 In the late 1800s of the US, the vast majority of the economy was controlled by very few 353 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,440 monopolies. 354 00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:01,280 And they essentially oppressed the workforce so that people were financially drowning 355 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:08,360 while a small class of aristocrats was becoming obscenely wealthy. 356 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:17,800 We think about families like the Rockefellers and financial organizations like JP Morgan, 357 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:22,400 stuff like that, like Standard Oil, so on and so forth. 358 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:29,620 And then all of, I like to think of it as an economic reset that happened over a number 359 00:29:29,620 --> 00:29:36,520 of decades, starting with Teddy Roosevelt coming into office after I believe Garfield 360 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:38,960 was assassinated. 361 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,520 And he did a good bit of trust busting. 362 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:48,640 And then his economic momentum was continued by FDR. 363 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:58,400 And we saw a capitalist reset in the US because it was no longer functional for workers. 364 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:04,440 And that bred a, along with World War II, bred a massive amount of prosperity for the 365 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:06,400 US. 366 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:15,240 And now we've started to see our economy go back into a monopolization phase where workers 367 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,040 are being oppressed regularly. 368 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:21,980 Obviously, now it's more corporate oligarchies because we still do have a considerable amount 369 00:30:21,980 --> 00:30:24,600 of antitrust law. 370 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:32,560 But I was talking at a CISV camp the other day with a guy that worked, or that works 371 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:38,840 as a lawyer for a trust fund, or hedge fund rather. 372 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:46,480 And he was saying that the FCC is scared to regulate large tech companies because they 373 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,240 have less power than them. 374 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:51,320 And we need to create change. 375 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:57,760 Yeah, and I think she, with the lesson I'm gathering from this history lesson, is that 376 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:02,600 a change comes from the people from the ground forward. 377 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,440 I think we are at the precipice of more change. 378 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:13,280 I think today's episode has been a really great discussion on how the generational, 379 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,680 the different voices of our generations can come together. 380 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:21,200 And I hope, I hope bring some change. 381 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:25,680 I think millions of lives depend on it. 382 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:27,880 And I'm tired. 383 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,600 I'd like to just rest a little bit more, right? 384 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:32,800 And I realize I'm responsible. 385 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,280 I'm responsible for my own relationship in the workplace. 386 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,840 Soren, this has been a fascinating conversation. 387 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:40,080 You know a lot about this stuff. 388 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:46,440 I really like the idea of extreme economic reform, and I read into it a considerable 389 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:47,440 amount. 390 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:49,720 With that said, I'm no economist. 391 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:53,400 Yeah, well, we'd love to hear from our listeners too. 392 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,280 So yeah, please feel free to reach out. 393 00:31:56,280 --> 00:32:04,080 You can reach Soren and I at inspiredinsights at inspiredcg.com. 394 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:06,080 Until next time, I'm Chris LaValle. 395 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:07,080 I'm Soren Peterson. 396 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:08,080 Thanks for listening. 397 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:09,080 Thank you so much. 398 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:10,080 See you next week. 399 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:15,600 Inspired Insights podcast has been brought to you by Inspired Consulting Group, LLC. 400 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:19,440 Edited and produced by Amanda Seidel and Derek Carter. 401 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,440 Supporting support for the Inspired Insights podcast by Elizabeth Keenan, music by Derek 402 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:24,440 Carter. 403 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:29,040 Please visit www.inspiredcg.com to learn more. 404 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:50,080 Copyright 2024, all rights reserved.