Hello, everybody, I’m home from Las Vegas and in “hurricane prep” mode. I’m snacking and doing laundry. I’ll be making book recommendations on Twitter, later today, so be sure to follow me for round the clock coverage of my ordinary life.
I’m also reflecting on my whirlwind trip to Las Vegas. By the time the conference got into high gear, I was packed and headed for the airport. However, I did see a ton of old friends and colleagues. I briefly walked the expo floor as they were setting up, and I heard LAURIE LAURIE LAURIE LAURIE LAURIE LAURIE as I sauntered down the aisles. Then I attended a few parties and also heard LAURIE LAURIE LAURIE LAURIE LAURIE LAURIE.
People weren’t chanting for me. They were trying to grab my attention, say hello, and share stories about their lives. And I don’t mind bumping into my colleagues except so many people are totally fucking miserable, right now. Men and women with high-level roles in big corporations are exhausted and ready to head to the nearest competitor in 2019 once their bonuses are paid out.
“Don’t you work for one of the best companies in America?” I asked a friend.
“Yeah, it’s great how they shove it down your throat all day long.”
Yowza, work is messy. Work can suck for everybody including people who stand on stage and talk about creating healthy work environments and human-centric employee experiences. So, because I’m a burgeoning writer, I jot down notes and ideas. Here are some of the things I wrote on my iPhone over the past few days:
“Don’t worry about your job, worry about your soul.”
“Artificial intelligence isn’t fact, it isn’t an opinion, it’s a lie we tell ourselves because we don’t have real answers, yet.”
“You matter. Your job only matters because you matter. You would matter without your job.”
“Chatbots are a step backward. It’s wrong to sell depersonalization as personalization.”
“What if we could reboot our lives like we reboot our laptops?”
“Does Vegas make you lose your mind?”
“HR EX is the barometer for EX at a company.”
I’m not Bob Woodward, but lots of people in my field are exhausted. If the best and brightest individuals in the field of human resources can’t fix their own work experiences, how can they fix work for you? The answer is that they can’t. Nobody can fix your work experience except you. And you’ll do it by prioritizing your values and putting yourself first.
Just wish I could get my colleagues to see it that way, too.