Comments on: The nature of work - visible, invisible, and that doesn’t look like work http://strange.corante.com/2008/11/06/the-nature-of-work-visible-invisible-and-that-doesnt-look-like-work Picking out patterns in the chaos Tue, 22 May 2012 20:15:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Trippenbach http://strange.corante.com/2008/11/06/the-nature-of-work-visible-invisible-and-that-doesnt-look-like-work#comment-3623 Trippenbach Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:27:11 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2008/11/06/the-nature-of-work-visible-invisible-and-that-doesnt-look-like-work#comment-3623 Indeed - well said. Your description of company intranets as drab, dire places - which therefore <i>must</i> be productive by dint of their unattractiveness - reminds me of a saying of Brian Sutton Smith's: <blockquote>"The opposite of play isn't work. It's depression."</blockquote> Indeed - well said. Your description of company intranets as drab, dire places - which therefore must be productive by dint of their unattractiveness - reminds me of a saying of Brian Sutton Smith’s:

“The opposite of play isn’t work. It’s depression.”

]]> By: Andrew Turner http://strange.corante.com/2008/11/06/the-nature-of-work-visible-invisible-and-that-doesnt-look-like-work#comment-3618 Andrew Turner Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:47:57 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2008/11/06/the-nature-of-work-visible-invisible-and-that-doesnt-look-like-work#comment-3618 Great article! I think the issue is also with a difficulty for people to think outside their own value and action system to consider the intentions of their co-workers. In the case of your work at PwC - the other people were foremost thinking of what *they* would do with a browser rather than first considering it would mean something different to you. I'm sure the same problem applies when one would go off thinking staring out at the sky. Others consider that in the same position they would be thinking about non-work related problems or doing personal activities. There is definitely a different kind of worker that thoroughly enjoys what they're doing, beyond work as a means of income to one of fulfillment and excitement - and to the extent they'll actually spend their freetime engaging their 'work'. Consider the rise in BarCamps as a simple example of people breaking out of the bag-full-of-conferences that are boring to spending their weekends surrounded by other over-engaged people talking about broad scopes of problems in their interest domains. I'm sure the same workers that scoff at browsers for work or day-dreaming for planning would boggle at the thought of spending their free-time being productive. Great article!

I think the issue is also with a difficulty for people to think outside their own value and action system to consider the intentions of their co-workers.

In the case of your work at PwC - the other people were foremost thinking of what *they* would do with a browser rather than first considering it would mean something different to you. I’m sure the same problem applies when one would go off thinking staring out at the sky. Others consider that in the same position they would be thinking about non-work related problems or doing personal activities.

There is definitely a different kind of worker that thoroughly enjoys what they’re doing, beyond work as a means of income to one of fulfillment and excitement - and to the extent they’ll actually spend their freetime engaging their ‘work’.

Consider the rise in BarCamps as a simple example of people breaking out of the bag-full-of-conferences that are boring to spending their weekends surrounded by other over-engaged people talking about broad scopes of problems in their interest domains.

I’m sure the same workers that scoff at browsers for work or day-dreaming for planning would boggle at the thought of spending their free-time being productive.

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