I've seen the best minds of my generation, eaten up, chewed to mush and spit out by the extractive billionaire MBA/CPAs who treat every sphere they touch as a coal mine in anthracite country.
They tell you you're lucky to have a job. They coerce you into working 60 hours/week and pay you for 40. They work you until you're used up and then they kick you to the curb.
I've seen the best minds of my generation, destroyed by the industry they loved. While the fat, marzipan-skinned bosses fly to azure islands on private jets and herald the coming of the algorithms that will eat our remaining faces and suck dry our souls.
But.
All is not lost.
We can, you can, we all can say no.
We can find a little maazel.
Some Henry Cooper guts and fight back.
How.
Here are 11 thoughts for generating your own personal maazel.
1. Take a mile walk at lunch. In other words, don't allow yourself to be a captive of your desk and your over-bearing boss. Get out of your plasticine workspace. Breathe air. See faces. Hear the music of the streets. Visit a museum. Work your legs, your wind, your mind.
2. Un-Suppress. Question why. Speak first. Assert. Ask what something means. Refuse to give into the diseased hierarchy where you're ruled by small minds with big titles.
3. Laugh. There's nothing in plutocrats that run advertising agencies understand less and hate more than laughter. Laughter is the prerogative of free people and free-thinking. It frightens them
4. Don't be a Stahkanovite. Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov was a Soviet miner who thought hard-work would lead to things like job security and money. I believed that for 40 years only to be fired at the age of 62. Remember Arthur Miller's words, "you can't just eat the orange and throw the peel away. A man is not a piece of fruit." Except management thinks you are.
This is not to say don't work hard. But don't think by working harder you will be secure, treated well, or protected.
5. Transition. Most hegemonies want you thinking, "I am lucky to have this job." You must hegemon yourself and turn that into "they are lucky to have me."
6. Cultivate. The great Sally Hogshead once said to me, "George, you have three things in this business. 1) Your portfolio. 2) Your reputation. 3) Your network. Work on each of those each day. They're where your creativity and ardor will give you the most.
7. Make your brand better than their brand. That's not hard. Their brand sucks. Work on making yours unique and important. This frightens them.
8. Acronyms. There are two you need to know. Two that can inform your world view. YOYO--You're on Your Own. And WITT--We're in This Together. Chances are you're working for a YOYO. Escape to a WITT if you can find one.
9. Never use jargon. When you use the language of the Oligopoly you become a slave of the Oligopoly. Use simple, clear language that is not owned by the dominant culture. If you're really ambitious and want to know more about this, read Viktor Klemperer's "The Language of the Third Reich."
Resistance starts with phonemes.
10. Care for yourself. Deep Self Appreciation. Your boss doesn't care. Management doesn't. The holding company doesn't. You must.
11. The three types of loyalty. Most people and organizations demand that you're loyal to them. Two other loyalties are important. Loyalty to your craft. The final loyalty is the one people forget. Loyalty to yourself.
That is what I've learned so far.
