Summary of Unf*cking Work with Neil Usher

00:00:00 - 00:50:00

Neil Usher discusses the concept of Stockholm syndrome in relation to the modern workplace, noting that it is often difficult to break free from the habits of domestication. He suggests that it starts with accepting the journey we have taken and the attitudes and actions we have propagated.

• 00:00:00 Neil Usher's "Unf*cking Work" discusses the need for a new approach to work, and positions itself as a business book for those who don't like them. Neil Usher's background and experience as a working person is evident in the book, which discusses topics such as the need for a rethinking of work, the necessity of getting further upstream, and the benefits of collaboration.
• 00:05:00 Neil Usher discusses the concept of Stockholm syndrome in relation to the modern workplace, noting that it is often difficult to break free from the habits of domestication. He suggests that it starts with accepting the journey we have taken and the attitudes and actions we have propagated.
• 00:10:00 The author discusses how meaning in work can be universal, as long as it is something that is constantly being tested. He also discusses how resignation can be seen as a form of rebellion, as people are swapping one job for another.
• 00:15:00 Neil Usher discusses the ways in which people move from a traditional, corporate job to self-employment, and how this often liberates them from some of the stresses of their former job but often does not result in any real benefits. He goes on to discuss how this habituation often leads to a sense of complacency, and how something more needs to happen in order to create real change.
• 00:20:00 Neil Usher discusses the idea that there is a growing gap between knowledge workers and the rest of the working population, and suggests that the first step to bridging this divide is for knowledge workers to stop viewing work as a solely online or office-based experience.
• 00:25:00 Neil Usher discusses the idea that work should be needed and have meaning, and argues that our current understanding of productivity is based on an ideology which can eventually lead to negative consequences.
• 00:30:00 Neil Usher discusses how productivity can be subjective, and how in a corporate environment, work can be performed that is not necessary and is simply noise. Usher also speaks about how consumption can help to recharge and decompress after work, and how in an Axiom of Capital world, productivity and consumption are in a state of equilibrium, but that it is an interesting challenge to try and move towards a world where consumption is more reasonable.
• 00:35:00 Neil Usher discusses the "knowledge worker divide" in which there is a separation between those who work with knowledge (knowledge workers) and those who do not (non-knowledge workers). He shares an experience from his working life in which he experienced negative nostalgia for jobs he hated, but also reflected on the music he was listening to, the food he was eating, and the fantasies he was dreaming about. He argues that, without these types of relationships, we become more fractured and our work becomes easier.
• 00:40:00 Neil Usher discusses how measurement and management can be problematic, and how excessive use of quantitative measurement can actually damage an organization. He also discusses how the central problem is that most measurement is based on effects, not causes.
• 00:45:00 Neil Usher discusses the tension between work and anti-work politics in his book, "Unf*cking Work." He predicts that, as technology and measurement systems become more sophisticated, the working class will be consumed by the systems themselves.
• 00:50:00 The author discusses how he wrote Unf*cking Work, and how it differs from other business books. He talks about how he tries to engage his audience and how he plans to continue writing.