Ep45 – Sisyphus and How COVID Changed the Nature of Work with Sara Causey

Mentally Unscripted

Today’s guest is Sara Causey, the owner of Causey Consulting LLC and host of the Causey Consulting podcast. Sara’s experience consulting with firms of all sizes on their recruiting and staffing needs puts her in the unique position to see how COVID and our response to it are changing the nature of how we work.

Sara has excellent insights into our changing attitude towards work, from our desire to escape cubicle zombie nation to organizational insecurities that lead to micromanaging employees. Her advice will help you shape a career that will take you to the upper levels of your field with confidence, integrity, and nobility.

If 2020 and 2021 have you questioning the nature of how you earn a living, this is a must-listen episode.

Sara is friendly, engaging, and blunt, so we had an excellent time talking to her.

Resources

* Causey Consulting

* Causey Consulting Blog and Podcast

* Toxic Positivity

* Toxic Positivity, Part 2

* Breaking Toxic Patterns

* “I Just Couldn’t Get Over It…” (Sara discussed toxic positivity a bit more in this episode)

* Toxic Optimism & #Blessed

* The Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus

Mental Models

* The Observer Effect

* Results oriented vs process oriented

* Toxic positivity & toxic optimism

* Probabilistic thinking

Top Takeaways

* The workforce today is more empowered than it has been in years. Our response to COVID-19 has made employers and employees realize that everyone doesn’t need to be packed into an office to work effectively. One of the downsides for the employer, and arguably an advantage for the employee, is the employer has to learn to trust its employees.

* Some employers don’t want to give up micromanaging their employees. As a result, they try to construct a digital panopticon to control their employees no matter where they are working. But good employees are savvy and won’t tolerate such monitoring.

* The observer effect can cause employees to underperform because of the anxiety of thinking their being watched.

* Freelancing websites can offer benefits for people who are just getting started in a freelancing career, but they lose their advantages as people gain experience.

* Don’t be afraid to fire a bad client. Establish the rules of engagement upfront, and don’t be scared to cut ties with any client who doesn’t respect them.

* We must accept that life won’t turn out the way we want. Toxic positivity and toxic optimism can prevent us from preparing for the inevitable bad day. We can’t “cheat the system.”

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Follow Scott at Strength and Reason and on DESO.

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Cheers!

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