Do My Plants Like My Music, And Other Intrusive Shower Thoughts For Your Monday Morning.
Poppets! It’s August 2021 (WUT omg time has no meaning), meaning we’ve got one more month of Hot Girl Summer, which for me has mostly involved long walks on the weekend, socially-distanced picnics in the park and plotting out recipes that don’t require me to turn the oven on because, um, DELTA. So put on your sexiest sensible sneakers and LET’S DO THIS.
INTERWEBS, AHOY
I hate that it takes getting severely ill for some conservative lawmakers to come around on COVID, but we need all the voices of reason we can have: GOP lawmaker who once spurned masks urges people to take covid-19 seriously after eight-month illness (The Washington Post)
That sound you hear is the collective air circulation generated by so many lady Missive readers nodding in recognition: “CEO warned founder that people might see her as 'a bitch,' new lawsuit alleges” (Protocol)
Is this newsletter turning into an Ed Zitron fan zine? Because his piece in The Atlantic “Why Managers Fear A Remote-Work Future” had me nodding every paragraph, despite my role as a manager (for the record, I do not fear a remote-work future, in fact I look forward to it). In it, Zitron takes apart some of the common criticisms of WFH for white collar knowledge workers and poses five excellent questions management should be asking of themselves before they demand their teams return to the office. While I personally used to prefer working from the office, as there are many elements of IRL offices that I appreciate (I miss impromptu brainstorms at a white board, though we’re getting better at doing those with software), I’ve completely changed on it, knowing that I’ve had some of the most productive months of my life since the pandemic started, and that our teams have been impressively productive while working from their homes despite, I dunno, WORKING DURING A WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC / SOCIAL UNREST / INSANE ELECTION. Some of my reasons for wanting to return in some capacity comes from my own mental health: I live by myself, and the months of only seeing people on Zoom have definitely taken their toll. My real concerns lay in the hybrid model - if some start going back to the office and suddenly some of these “excellent diplomats”, as Zitron describes them, are getting more face time with execs, how can we ensure that those “seem(ing) productive” aren’t treated differently from those still at home? How do you run a meeting with five people around a conference table and five people as floating heads? I think that’s going to be a much trickier management challenge than all IRL or nothing.
Haven’t read this yet but need to (CW: discussion of residential schools): The Indigenous Archaeologist Tracking Down the Missing Residential Children (NYT)
And finally, do you need a dopamine fix to kick off your day? Watch this: High-jump competitors agree to share Olympic gold medal (TODAY, for those in the US) or Olympic high jumpers persuade organizers to let them share gold medal (CBC, for those in Canada).
Be kind to yourself, wear those masks while indoors with strangers, and don’t forget to drink some water, ok?
xoxo Amy