"Work is a tissue of lies" — Bruce Daisley
"And if we could only disabuse ourselves of these untruths, then we might be able to make work better for all of us."
Bruce Daisley is a workplace expert and former VP of Twitter. He’s also widely known for his podcast Eat Sleep Work Repeat.
But his biggest achievement is getting his first job by sending a cartoon CV to 50 companies.
We talked with Bruce about:
How his curiosity led to a new career as a workplace expert
Why a good workplace culture is not only moral — but good for the business
How everyone can change the workplace culture at their company
A surefire way to make content engaging — and why he avoids it
Why it’s usually a waste of energy to try to give someone purpose
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What we loved
Why optimism can be dangerous
Twitter as a business was having problems.
I found myself erring on the side of being the cheerleader of why things were going to get better. But if things don't get better people find themselves in a state of dissonance.
Whenever we find ourselves in conflict like that we initially find ourselves arguing with naysayers. But the tsunami of evidence against what we believed became overwhelming — and I witnessed about 40% of our London office leave in one year.
“I can tell you who didn’t make it out — it was the optimists… They died of a broken heart.” Admiral Jim Stockdale, the highest-ranking US military officer being tortured during the Vietnam War, said this of the people who didn’t survive the infamous “Hanoi Hilton”.
While Twitter is far from a torture camp, both of these cases suggest how optimism that isn’t met can crush someone emotionally — worse than being realistic or even pessimistic.
Admiral Stockdale brilliantly sums how he found strength in his 7 and a half years of captivity:
Well, you have to understand, it was never depressing.
Because despite all those circumstances, I never ever wavered in my absolute faith that not only would I prevail—get out of this—but I would also prevail by turning it into the defining event of my life that would make me a stronger and better person.
Why purpose is an illusion
Purpose is a bit of an illusion.
If people feel a personal sense of purpose it can be helpful, but these terms are ineffectively and inaccurately packaged up by companies.
Purpose can be found, but it cannot be given. For most firms, it can end up leading to sort of a waste of energy because you're trying to force people to believe in a certain way.
Bruce’s point is that companies can’t expect to say what their mission is and expect their employees to feel a visceral sense of purpose.
So how can people find purpose in their work?
An experiment conducted by Adam Grant gives a clue — how closely you see the effects of your work. In his study, the team of fundraisers that met a person that benefitted from the scholarship raised 3 times as much as the team who only heard of a story through its manager.
This clue’s reinforced by the percentage of professionals who feel they’re happy — florists and gardeners (87%) almost double bankers (44%), in a study of professionals across industries.
Dive deeper
Finding purpose in work and everyday life
Admiral Jim Stockdale on why optimists did not make it in the “Hanoi Hilton"
Bruce’s guide to promote a book — which is a masterclass in much more than that
Find Bruce online
Bruce’s Eat Sleep Work Repeat podcast