NonsenseAtWork

You will find the text version of this audio, and much more, on the NonsenseAtWork website. There you can also sign up to receive the weekly nonsense insight and the weekly trigger question right in your inbox. Please go to: ⁠ https://nonsenseatwork.com/

You will find the text version of this audio, and much more, on the NonsenseAtWork website. There you can also sign up to receive the weekly nonsense insight and the weekly trigger question right in your inbox. Please go to: ⁠ https://nonsenseatwork.com/

You will find the text version of this audio, and much more, on the NonsenseAtWork website. There you can also sign up to receive the weekly nonsense insight and the weekly trigger question right in your inbox. Please go to: https://nonsenseatwork.com/

You will find the text version of this audio, and much more, on the NonsenseAtWork website. There you can also sign up to receive the weekly nonsense insight and the weekly trigger question right in your inbox. Please go to: ⁠https://nonsenseatwork.com/

The annual office festivities are returning. Unless, of course, you still WFH, in which case you will be PAT (partying at home). Annual office parties always remind me of this true story from way back in 2015. (Maybe I can't forget it because modern art befuddles me. Maybe because corporate communication baffles me. Maybe because cleaning ladies are privy (ha!) to secrets. Maybe all the above.)

In case the threat of recession does not recede, heed this radical advice: Don’t be seduced by fancy financials. Just follow the (real) money.

Here's my favorite definition of politics, from Merriam-Webster: Politics is "the art or science of government." Why is it my favorite? Because it not only applies to countries, counties and municipalities. It also applies to organizations. The art of leadership might get all the attention, but if a leader cannot govern....  And surprise, surprise. Lobbying is a huge part of governing well. B...

Here's an uncomfortable truth about (raw) capitalism. When there's more than a sniff of risk in the air, we are more than willing to compromise our values to stay "successful."

There's a lot of gloom and doom coming our way. Yes, I know, it depends who you're listening to. But let's assume "they" are right. (This time.) When faced with approaching doom and gloom, what do the wise do? I have no idea. However, I suggest you enjoy the little things, good and bad, just a little more than you did yesterday. As if today is "It", the end of times. (Without taking your eye off t...

How things have changed, thanks to virus, virtual and vanity. Whoa. Surely not vanity. Not after how some people dress for their on-camera work sessions. This work from home lack of dress-vanity is now likely to infect the office as well. The unemployment rate went down in September 2022, giving (scarce) workers more power to demand changes. Such as to the dress code. This is a piece I wrote durin...

In my previous post, *bp275 It’s Time To Become a Skeptic Again*, I suggested the best way to view the economy is as a skeptic. But that blog is already in the past, so here's another (nonsense) reason you should be a skeptic today. At least about the economy.

Way back in 1933 George Bernard Shaw said that "If all the economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion." But apparently he was not the first person to use that expression. At least, according to people who research these types of quotes. The funny thing is that these people don't seem able to agree on who said what when. Another funny thing is that by the time I graduated as...

At work, should you ask open-ended questions in the wrong tone of voice? Of course you should! That is, if you are a "real" manager. It's your job to put employees on the spot and trip them up. How else will you know what's really going on?  Hang on, hang on. If that's your go-to questioning style, then maybe you could be making things worse. Not sure what I mean? Well, I don't know how you r...

I handed over thousands of dollars to a major US corporation over a period of four years. One would think that we had built up a respectful mutually beneficial relationship: You scratch my back (provide the service) and I'll scratch yours (contribute to your bottom line). One would think. But one would be wrong. When circumstances beyond my control meant that I had to end the relationship, they sh...

Work from home is over. Time to get serious again about work. Wait. I’m joking! Joking or not, here’s a question that might help you get serious about the rest of the year. . Did I steal this idea? No. Nor did I have to read a book about asking why. Wise people have been asking, "Why?" ever since Adam and Eve found themselves on the wrong side of the garden gate. (Come to think of it, even little...

Here's a quote that, I hope, will settle the work from home debate: "Whether you work from home or work in the office, it's still labor. And so are you." (The Chief Nonsense Officer. September 2022)

I assume that by the time you read this, NASA's latest rocket will be on its way for a trip around the moon and back. Assuming all goes according to plan. (Well, you already know that it did not. Take-off as scheduled nor go according to plan. So much for assuming.)

Many companies are compromising in the office fight. No, not the fight in the office. The fight about the office. Whether you work there five days a week or stay home five days a week. The most popular compromise seems to be to stay away on Mondays and Fridays. Notice that I said "stay away", not work from home. That's because when I first went to work in an office, anyone who was sick on a Monday...

Apparently gas prices are dropping. Slowly. Apparently inflation is deflating. Maybe. I hope that means we humans will behave a little less irrationally. Like driving to save on gas.

Tell me, who gets to take part in decision-making in your organization? No, I don’t mean who sits in at key meetings. I mean, who is heard and heeded? 

I recently bit into a juicy, ripe fruit. Have you also been so lucky? Mine was a peach. I mean the fruit was a peach. Although the peach was a peach, if you know what I mean. By fruit I don't mean the ones incarcerated in cans, or the ones frozen in time, or pulped into puree, or juiced into bottles. I mean the ones with skin/peel/rind and pip/pit/stone, the ones that drip and mess. Completely au...

Hot summer weather means lighter and less clothing. But less dress, irrespective of gender, is still a cover. And we are still human enough to judge a body (or a book) by its cover.

On the fourteenth of July, every year, the French celebrate the storming of the Bastille, the famous fortress-prison. Is it still worth celebrating?

What you wear can effect, not only how others perceive you , but your own performance.

Why do people repeat lies and other falsehoods? I don't mean repeat as in 'share,' but as in passing it on, over and over. I'll tell you why. Because it works. At least as propaganda and other forms of perverse persuasion.