Lunch, food, and the great equaliser
Update: For those who received this in email. I had left in many raw notes at the end of the official post - how I missed that, I have no idea. I greatly apologise for this, and it has been corrected now.
I. Welcome back & follow up
Good Morning and thank you again for inviting me into your inbox. I write about insights and provocations on the evolving nature of digital design. You can always subscribe here.
I apologise for forgetting to mention Chinese New Year last week! We did a light celebration at the office, and I hope those who celebrate have been able to connect with their families 🧧🧧🧧
Follow up:
🔎 Related to What comes after Facebook?
It looks like with the initial popularity rush, Clubhouse didn’t consider scenario threat modeling or strong content moderation, and is already dealing with some fall out.
🔎 Related to What comes after Facebook?
While I previously mentioned on Clubhouse information should find me better, to be fair, for minimal listening, I’ve already found great material.
🔎 Related to nothing specific
While I’m normally in a position of defending Facebook, I think it’s good to look at all sides of a debate, and Matt Stoller does a great job of breaking down the recent Australia situation and Monopoly arguments against them.
II. The lunch table and rituals that create culture
“When firms fail to update their assumptions, they die.”
💼 The future of work has permeated all types of business conversations over the last year, and there is broad thinking that the future will be flexible. The dominant argument is that individuals who previously worked in offices, especially those in Tech, are on the path to a changed future.
These conversations, predominantly about remote work, are peppered with topics such as salary, home office equipment, saving time on commutes, or difficulties with children. I have yet to see one article or serious discussion on culture - the very fabric that holds great companies together. The shared set of principles that define the values held by individuals at a company.
How is this kept when we’re apart? What are the rituals to build culture, trust, and shared sense of belonging?
🍳 As I discussed this with Guus, my friend and previous co-host of the Let’s Fix Things podcast, he said “What’s our lunch table now?”. Confused I asked him to elaborate. He explained the lunch table was the great equaliser. While we had cultural values and principles in theory, it was conversations often at the lunch table that allowed us to see how we live and believe in those principles.
The lunch table was a moment when all of us were equal. There was no hierarchy. It was a moment “to solve all the worlds problems” as Guus would say. We built trust and saw each other as people, not simply team mates or employees.
Now, as a distributed team, we have been searching for the answer to “What is our replacement for the lunch table?”
💡 I am cognisant not everyone has a lunch table, but I encourage you to think of the metaphor for the lunch table. The moment of bonding in a team that led to real connections, build trust, and wove a culture.
The question is really how you build that feeling of a cohesive team. What are you practices or rituals that turn people into teams and tribes?
As we’ve tried to answer this, I’ve spent copious time talking about the future of work with one of our Design Leaders in the studio. In our discussions we’ve even gone as far to ask, if we’re working from home more, why can’t we recreate the lunch table and have brunch or dinners be a part of work culture. Food as the great equaliser! 🍜
In thinking of working style and culture, we’ve also talked of completely different working methods, rethinking how work and culture evolve.
From a recent conversation.
Joe: Most of these articles seem to have the feeling of "work will be partial in office and out of office", but it made me think about async and sync collab. I like working on weekends because I have time and space to think - when I'm not in all these daily 60 minute meetings where really only 5 minutes are useful, and I can respond to messages in a more thoughtful way.
For our type of work (tech / design) I wonder if, as a product company, you could say "We work together 2 hours a day, and the rest is work when you need". Of course management, process, and information documentation would need to change... but I could imagine leading a lot happier life in some ways 🤔
[name withheld]: I agree. Why not rethink the typical Mon to Fri work week? I understand that this is so that family's can spend the non school days together. But maybe some people are able to have more focus time on weekends.
From here, we led into more conversations on how spending time together isn’t always about the work tasks. Again, it was building those cultural moments and connections - and of course how food can be a major player in building these moments.
In the end, in 2020 and 2021 we have been given a chance to rethink work and our work bonds. To even rethink our lives. We can think beyond remote work.
We may not have this opportunity again.
We can, and we should do better.
Want to talk? Comment on Substack, or catch me on Twitter.