Fast Company
Don't Sell Your Soul For a Chair
Wed/May/2009 07:00 AM Filed in: Work
I wrote an essay years ago recounting my experience working for one of Seattle’s corporate behemoths. The title of the piece: “I Was Prisoner 1125250.” Officially, I was a “partner,” but when you’re identified by a number, like something out of ‘Joe Versus the Volcano,’ then let’s face it, you’re a prisoner.
Like most corporate jobs, the greater your labor, the lower your compensation, and subsequently, the lower the quality of your workspace, and even more specifically, the lower the height of your walls. If I stood up, at my desk, the walls of my particular fattening pen would have come up to about mid-thigh. My chair was a grubby grey plastic number, with a hard foam seat, little room for adjustment, and a back that barely grazed the bottom of my shoulder blades. In comparison, the bigwigs on the floor, who dwelled in 8 foot high micro-suites, and spent their days playing solitaire and debating the ideal time to microwave their Healthy Choice frozen dinners, were given the sort of woven, mesh, synthetic polymer chairs that business wienies only dream about.
In short, work life was one big measuring contest.
In my opinion, the ultimate goal is not to compare what you have – especially the most measly of perks – to what someone a few rungs up the ladder has. I didn’t care if my walls were short and my chair was garbage, I just resented that that was the way things were tallied. A big chair and high walls meant higher pay and a lower chance of having to fill out a “permission slip” if you wanted to take a long weekend away with your wife.
Cut to five years later. After placing an order with Amazon, I was offered a year’s subscription to the magazine Fast Company. Thinking this might offer some interesting reading as I worked on my own small business and telecommuting work, I gave it a shot. The first issue arrived this week, with a cover that promised to unveil the most creative people in business. The first guy was from Apple (laying the groundwork for future absences?), not a promising sign. The following pages were filled with the folks Claude Rains summed up as “the usual suspects.” Not good. I flipped ahead a few pages, and again had the feeling that I wasn’t really reading about the most creative business minds of our time, but rather the folks most caught up in the corporate measuring contest.
Then came the killer. A two page spread of the greatest, the most desired, the more enticing business perk any creative business genius could ask for. The designer desk chair.
I closed up the magazine and popped it in the recycling bin.
I make a living writing and editing. To do that, you have to sit in a chair for a fair amount of time. But here’s the thing, the ultimate goal should be freedom. Freedom to move around the country as they say. If you’re so caught up worrying about you chair you’re sort of missing the point. Don’t all the phone company and wireless ads always show the guy working from a beach chair in Maui? That’s the goal, right? That chair probably cost 12 bucks!
It’s not about the chair people! It’s not about the chair! It’s about getting out of the chair, or better yet, working in the cheapest chair you can find. Or maybe a hammock.
Like most corporate jobs, the greater your labor, the lower your compensation, and subsequently, the lower the quality of your workspace, and even more specifically, the lower the height of your walls. If I stood up, at my desk, the walls of my particular fattening pen would have come up to about mid-thigh. My chair was a grubby grey plastic number, with a hard foam seat, little room for adjustment, and a back that barely grazed the bottom of my shoulder blades. In comparison, the bigwigs on the floor, who dwelled in 8 foot high micro-suites, and spent their days playing solitaire and debating the ideal time to microwave their Healthy Choice frozen dinners, were given the sort of woven, mesh, synthetic polymer chairs that business wienies only dream about.
In short, work life was one big measuring contest.
In my opinion, the ultimate goal is not to compare what you have – especially the most measly of perks – to what someone a few rungs up the ladder has. I didn’t care if my walls were short and my chair was garbage, I just resented that that was the way things were tallied. A big chair and high walls meant higher pay and a lower chance of having to fill out a “permission slip” if you wanted to take a long weekend away with your wife.
Cut to five years later. After placing an order with Amazon, I was offered a year’s subscription to the magazine Fast Company. Thinking this might offer some interesting reading as I worked on my own small business and telecommuting work, I gave it a shot. The first issue arrived this week, with a cover that promised to unveil the most creative people in business. The first guy was from Apple (laying the groundwork for future absences?), not a promising sign. The following pages were filled with the folks Claude Rains summed up as “the usual suspects.” Not good. I flipped ahead a few pages, and again had the feeling that I wasn’t really reading about the most creative business minds of our time, but rather the folks most caught up in the corporate measuring contest.
Then came the killer. A two page spread of the greatest, the most desired, the more enticing business perk any creative business genius could ask for. The designer desk chair.
I closed up the magazine and popped it in the recycling bin.
I make a living writing and editing. To do that, you have to sit in a chair for a fair amount of time. But here’s the thing, the ultimate goal should be freedom. Freedom to move around the country as they say. If you’re so caught up worrying about you chair you’re sort of missing the point. Don’t all the phone company and wireless ads always show the guy working from a beach chair in Maui? That’s the goal, right? That chair probably cost 12 bucks!
It’s not about the chair people! It’s not about the chair! It’s about getting out of the chair, or better yet, working in the cheapest chair you can find. Or maybe a hammock.
Can ya feel it?
Thu/Feb/2009 05:00 PM Filed in: Work
A funny thing has been happening lately. Despite making my living online. Despite having a Kindle, which I really do dig. I've been finding myself turning to hard copies of books, magazines, and newspapers more than ever before. I've been getting up in the morning, doing my writing, then heading downstairs to drink coffee and read the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I go back to work for a few hours, then take a break and head over to the gym, where I either listen to music, or more often crack open a magazine (Men's Health, Wired, Fast Company, Sunset, Architectural Digest, or Seattle Metropolitan) while I exercise. I don't know what's causing this, but I'm curious to know if other folks are having the same experience. There's just something nice about not having to worry about technical details or gizmo operation. My Kindle had to be replaced in December after it suddenly stopped, working, that may be part of it, but I think more than anything I just prefer to hold something that both tells a story, and has it own unique weight, texture, and even smell. Anyway, no really useful tidbits in this update, just a personal observation. One last comment. The paper used for the hardcover edition of The Audacity of Hope has a sort of honeycomb texture that is just incredible. Go grab a copy, you'll see!