Re: RTO:
“Proximity isn't the same as connection. Doing work near other people doesn't automatically recreate serendipity, collegiality, and collaborative spirit. Never mind what your CEO/HR team might have said when they rolled out the policy.”
From @rawsignal.ca: www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
This is a five-alarm fire in terms of human connection.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
Is this just another hype cycle you can ignore until it dies off? Maybe. But our sense is that this one's gonna be different.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
How do you check power that's not-presently-checked?
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
If you manage people, and you don't read @rawsignal.ca's newsletter... well, that's probably fine but you definitely should start.
On managing teams when you don't have the relevant expertise: "The tools are getting faster but the core issue was never that you were bullshitting slowly."
We need to acknowledge that the fake-it-and-hope-no-one-notices approach to management is having a real moment right now.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
Even as we're setting up something ambitious, we can often spot the things lurking in the shadows that are going to get in the way.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
If your org is on your seventh layoff or Lord-have-mercy, your 82nd re-org, we suggest that it's time to take a hard look at your underlying planning issues...
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
"Capitalism isn't skipping 1:1s, giving toxic feedback, or changing goals frameworks every quarter — fucking Mike is doing that."
(Mike was a great boss though.)
If we want work to be better, we need possibility, not futility.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
The real test for an org is not whether you ever bet wrong. The question is, when the results start to come in, what do you do now?
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
Sign that says “you’re in the right place — Raw Signal Group.”
Slide on a TV that reads, “show of hands.”
Coat closet with a chevron on top of it.
Betterboss, day 1.
🫶
It’s hard to push decision-making to the edges if we're not sure how the edges are making decisions.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
I really enjoyed this post by @rawsignal.ca against the pressure (in industry, but also very true for academia 🧪🔭) to overwork at the cost of having time to think, breathe and yes, be creative (it is related).
mailchi.mp/rawsignal/yo...
A poster that says “where are the people pleasers” behind a window, with Melissa in the background
A poster that says “where are the people pleasers” behind a window with Johnathan making a face in the background
Pictured: @shappy.bsky.social trying to get out of the way of the photo.
Also pictured: @johnathan.bsky.social well, uh, doing the exact opposite.
Also also pictured: new window art at the bank (our HQ is a restored bank if you’re new here hi 👋)
You can drop a lot of frogs in that pot and very few will feel their feet get warm.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
Folks who study meaning at work have three buckets. We love a good three-bucket framework. Let's go.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
The first and easiest gut check in terms of whether your workplace surveillance is helpful or harmful is this.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
The shift in this model is that we're no longer talking about a cofounder or a bestie or work spouse.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
Speaking of which, I encourage you all to read @rawsignal.ca's newsletter today: www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
"[Eric Schmidt thinks] automating away the humans is righteous b/c it will reduce dependence on entitled employees, and produce appropriate level of fear/obedience in ones who remain."
🫶🫶🫶
Maybe I’m just hormonal but @rawsignal.ca - you weren’t supposed to make me cry today.
every time something comes along that dismantles a symbolic barrier / economic class skill check, that barrier will be replaced with a new/different barrier.
one aside based on @rawsignal.ca:
I once heard it touted that AI would level the field for marginalised people, by ensuring people who'd never created a pitch deck/cover letter could make one now.
if VCs are no longer reading pitch decks because they're all AI, then they're going on "gut" = bias
The difference between the theater of work and actual work.
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
"Sorta like Napster, just post-DMCA."
IYKYK
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
Today, over in CEO-club, all the cool kids are forcing their employees to use AI. They write bombastic internal emails, and then post those publicly for their CEO friends to admire and riff on. They tie AI usage to performance evaluation and compensation. They tie it to promotions and headcount requests. These CEOs, many of whom have woefully incomplete policies on hate speech and harassment, are clear-as-day that failing to use this or that LLM is an immediately fireable offence. It's fair to ask why one should have to compel people to use a tool if it's so obviously incredible, but the CEOs are prepared for that question. Of course the tools are incredible, and many of their team members are already using them. But the pace of adoption needs to be faster. CEO social circles are often full of AI investors who assure them that even more powerful AI is just around the corner. And if their teams need some tough love in order to get with the program and see the vision, so be it.
reading this week's @rawsignal.ca email on the bus, almost missed my stop
"It's fair to ask why one should have to compel people to use a tool if it's so obviously incredible." @rawsignal.ca on the AI boomlet and the hazards to their own workers many tech CEOs are ignoring.
Mandatory reading today from @rawsignal.ca: mailchi.mp/rawsignal/ho...
It is offensive how good @johnathan.bsky.social and @shappy.bsky.social are at nailing the workplace issues around AI.
