GBAT the Gym
April 21st, 2008 by Cali & Jody
A friend sent us this link to Guy’s Bozoification Aptitude Test, which is based on Guy Kawasaki’s blog entry about how to tell if your company is “sliding into bozosity.”
We know it’s an old post, but this kind of thing never gets old. Right now, a fresh crop of young people is entering the workforce. Right now, they’re being conditioned to behave based on a set of broken assumptions about work. Right now, veterans of the workforce are turning a blind eye to the problem and teaching these new hires how to get along in the world. Work sucks, but what can you do, right?
We encourage you to take this quiz. And by all means, have a laugh. It’s funny. But we also encourage you to consider what would happen if we tried to change the culture of work.
For example, check out Question #7:
“Time is now considered more important than money so you have a company cafeteria, health club, and pet grooming service. Moreover, the first thing that employees show visitors is the company cafeteria, health club, and pet grooming service.”
Reading this made us think of a recent post about “The Walk of Shame” on The Juggle, the Wall Street Journal’s work-life blog. (The walk of shame is that feeling you have when you leave the office before “normal” quitting time.) Check out all the comments. Even in companies that are “flexible,” people are still obsessed with time, as opposed to focusing on results.
The workplace perks that Guy makes fun of are just like the benefits of flexibility: an illusion. We can’t help but wonder how often the “walk of shame” takes people past the cafeteria, the health club and the pet grooming service. Maybe a better option than flexibility is control. Instead of giving people access to an on-site gym, they could have the freedom to workout whenever, and wherever, they wanted.
Which would you rather have?
