On top of all the other changes we’re seeing in how companies try to continue doing business during this insane time, I’m particularly awe-struck by a seismic shift in work culture at the emotional level. For white-collar work, for the clients and friends I’m interacting with, people are suddenly able to bring their whole selves to work, and that’s shocking and amazing to me!
Bringing Our Full Selves to (Remote) Work
Colleagues are asking and caring about each other’s emotional health before meetings begin. Children, pets, and partners are wandering into the formerly segregated, sacrosanct space of WORK LIFE and nobody seems to care. It’s even considered charming! You’re not judged for having elements of chaos all around you. It’s just how it is, because all is chaos right now.
Yet life was always chaos, and that goes times ten for parents, so this is a giant step forward. And, let’s be honest, this change is most dramatic for working mothers. I dream that this is one of the lasting changes we see in the Afterworld we will return to, this awareness and even warm acceptance that we all have lives, dependents, needs, and interconnectedness. We are humans, not just units of production!
This article originally appeared on LinkedIn
