I have to say that my most recent employers in the Sili Valley had pretty healthy corporate cultures for the most part, but a few before that... Well everyone played The Suffering Game. Here is an example. Monday morning, you bump into a coworker at the coffee pot. You exchange Good Mornings, and then ask, "How was your weekend?"
It is NOT okay to say, "It was great! I went for a long hike with my dog, and then went to the beach and cooled off in the water!" No, no, no! You have to have to say, "I had to work. I was here all day Saturday and then half of Sunday. The other half of Sunday, I had to stain the deck." You might squeek by if you rattle off a list of household chores, but only if you follow it up by intimating that this only bothered you because it kept you from doing *work* work.
I was reminded of this by one of my commenters, under my post Life is an Adventure:
"Just don't mistake adventure for purposely choosing to make your life difficult."
Because the Suffering Game requires authenticity, and playing the Suffering Game actually does sometimes entail purposely choosing to make one's life difficult. I honestly believe that none of us (and yes, that includes me during that time period) were lying or exaggerating our "horrible lives that were dominated by work." We actually got sucked into the real thing. It sounds crazy, but I bet my Sili Valley readers know exactly what I am talking about.
Thankfully, I had much better experiences at my later Sili Valley jobs. I had good bosses who actually did not play The Suffering Game themselves, and did not want to hear it from us!
I'm trying to think now whether UAF physics grad students play The Suffering Game. I think some do, but I feel fortunate to realize now that I haven't been. But I do have to guard against it, as it can creep up pretty easily!
4 comments:
Hey we don't appreciate the attacks on silicon valley companies. I'm not sure the suffering game you experienced has any correlation with the location of your company. You could have a lousy company culture in Seattle or Kansas or anywhere.
I think it has to do with company size. Big company vs start-up.
My post was not meant to be an attack. I was just writing down my thoughts. I'm sorry if they sounded offensive.
And hi Blippir! Yes, probably small companies are worse for this kind of thing, and it's probably a self-propagating cycle. Small companies attract workoholics, and they also encourage them to work harder and harder.
My own experience is a bit different, though. My first job out of college was with a smallish startup, and they had too LITTLE work for me to do. I quit because I was bored out of my mind. After them, my best and worst companies for workaholism were both large blue-chip companies that one would guess would have similiar corporate cultures, from the outside.
so ridiculously true! i played that game when i was a lawyer at Big Law. LAME! So glad you're outta the game :-)
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