Thursday, March 8, 2012

Wrath.

A few weeks ago I heard a talk about a guy who's made a living thinking about the nature of happiness.

Yes, I said happiness.

His name is Brian R. Little and he's a Distinguished Scholar in the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology at the University of Cambridge in, of course, Cambridge, England. Before Cambridge, he plied his cerebral trade at a different Cambridge, the one that is the home of basketball powerhouse Harvard University.

All this to say, Little is a very brainy guy.

There was a lot to the lecture but what stuck most with me with Little's notion of the need of a "restorative niche."

Most people when they extend themselves--either in their work lives or their life lives--exhaust themselves. After making a great effort, there is a equal and opposite reaction. Often that reaction is the need for collapse.

Little calls it the need for a "restorative niche."

Restorative niche.

One of the dopiestier things that's happened in our business is the absolute and complete destruction of restorative niches.

Offices allow no privacy. If you're lucky you might have access to something called a huddle room or some similar--when the last thing you want is a huddle. You want a time out.

Speaking of time outs--the timesheet tyrants have all but eliminated downtown. Make changes to an asinine deck till 2:30 in the morning and you'll still have hell to pay for some timesheet peccadillo. Eeek--your "usability" or billability might be sullied.

I have news for all the asses who treat us like chattel.

We are humans.

We need our Restorative niche.

1 comment:

Tore Claesson said...

That explains why there's a long line in front of the loo.