One of the foremost thinkers of ideology is the French Philosopher Louis Althusser. He expounded on his ideas of ideology in his essay “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes Towards an Investigation)” which condenses his book On the Reproduction…

We will return to exploring more aspects of ideology in future newsletters, but this week, I want to focus on the idea of disavowal. Whether the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Hellene and now Milton or the news of…

In the last newsletter, we discussed culture and how often, when leaders talk about creating culture, they are really advancing an ideology. Here, we pivot slightly and detour through the thinker Pierre Bourdieu. While his work never uses the…

Culture is a constant topic of discussion on LinkedIn and in organizations in general. We will critically examine a recent book on Culture (The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle) and use it to see how our current views of…

Optimism is everywhere, from thought/cult leaders on LinkedIn (one even used optimism in the name of his company) to organizational values. But what if optimism wasn’t the benefit it was set out to be? What if there was an…

Last week, I wrote about how even the meaning we find in our work is part of how we are exploited as workers. This week promises a path forward and how we can lean into the alienation that results…

Last week, we explored why people work a job: to make a living. Today, we will explore the other reason, finding meaning. Returning to my dad’s quote, “You aren’t supposed to like all parts of your job. That’s why…

Years ago, when I complained to my dad about some aspects of my job, he responded, “You aren’t supposed to like all parts of your job. That’s why they pay you.” He had created a split between the part…