Originally posted on LinkedIn on Feb 27, 2024
Someone asked why I started posting on LinkedIn in late ‘23. I didn’t have a ready answer at the time, but here's a considered response:
1. From reaction to contemplation
A lot happened over the past 4 years. The pandemic wrought unwelcome chaos, particularly on the family front. My oldest son left home for college; my youngest follows suit this fall. Several childhood friends lost a parent; I lost an aunt and my first work mentor; my wife and I both lost grandparents. My manager at work retired, and I had a tough 2023 at work, rebuilding my team after valued friends pursued opportunities elsewhere.
In the past, I might have dealt with this loss and grieving by working or with unhealthy eating. More recently, I’ve been working on ways to constructively confront negative emotions, a process I refer to as the “frame of contention” in “The Status Paradox” (linked in comments below). Much of my writing flows from this process.
2. A public love letter to my kids
The desire to create a written record of my thoughts emerged from this “frame of contention”.
Why?
My boys are on LinkedIn. I want them to have access to my reflections when, in a decade or three, they go through similar difficulties of their own. Recognizing their world may be more attention-deficient, AI-enhanced, and de-socialized, I hope my reflections provide insight into how meditative introspection produces constructive engagement with the world around them.
I am also mindful of my grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s and dementia. A close personal friend, the wife of a mentor, is going through similar struggles. Their challenges inspired me to express these thoughts with appropriate clarity while I am still able.
3. A hypocrisy hedge
I am, based on my resume, what some people term “clever”. It’s not always easy to hold “clever” people accountable because they skillfully repackage themselves to meet the moment. They use buzzwords like “adapt” or “pivot”.
Yet, this capacity for “cleverness” can be ruinous. It allows some to get away with self-serving conduct that objectifies others, something I describe in an earlier post (“Bridging the gap”, also linked in comments). Widely tolerated, it is a destructive societal force, reinforcing shallow behaviors we find simultaneously fascinating and repulsive (see “The Status Paradox”).
If I state, with clarity, what I believe and the behavior my beliefs should induce, do I not surrender some power to deceive? I know I will fall short of my standards. But if I fail in the dark, I fail without repercussion. If failure to uphold our principles has no consequences, in what sense are they principled? I take awkward comfort knowing you can hold me accountable – that you will redirect me back to first principles, and that I can reset, start again, and keep going.
J