Love and Social Hierarchy

Posted by Steve Marshall Follow me on Twitter

Many thanks to friend and colleague Veronica Scheubel for sending us this video (16:52) of Alain de Botton describing a 'kinder, gentler philosophy of success.'

Alain talks about the contradictions and paradoxes that surround ideas like love, meritocracy, snobbery, self-esteem, equality and envy.  We are told that, in a world that supports the spirit of equality, anyone can rise to the top yet those who fail to make the grade are seen as 'losers'. He asks us to be less judgemental of each other, noting the frequently random, haphazard nature of success or failure. 

De Botton reminds us that we can't have it all and that we need to recognise areas where we cannot succeed. Critically, he claims is that we should make sure that our ideas of success are our own, rather than criteria that are 'sucked in' from parents, media and materialist society.

Karoshi

Posted by Steve Marshall  Follow me on Twitter

When Suzanne Quentin, one of the meus founding partners in the US, sent over this video I will confess that my first stop was the duration tag; 12mins 10secs...?

Then a thought flashed through my mind, "12:10 - Do I have time for that?".

It turns out that my reaction is precisely the point the film tries to make.  

There is a gathering field of evidence that leads us to believe that overly busy lifestyles are corrosive at a number of personal, organisational and social levels.  Prof Cary Cooper recently claimed the data shows that Americans die earlier from preventable diseases than people in Canada, Japan and the UK.  He suggests that the overly-stressed US may be to blame.

And so the film hits us right between the eyes.  Karoshi. Literally, death from overwork.

The film questions the meaning of life and the purpose of work then goes on to frame the qualitative difference between 'welfare' and 'wellbeing'.  It turns out that this apparently semantic difference hides the potential for an enormous and meaningful shift in the amount of energy, vitality, and engagement we bring to our lives and work.

So, If you feel, for one second, that you don't have the time for this video, then heed the symptoms, watch carefully and take note.  

This one is for you and, of course, me.