I keep seeing articles describing a “new” workplace problem.
They always sound surprised, as if no one in human history has ever tried this before. As if the entire concept was recently discovered under a rock.
The truth is simpler and less exciting: we did this already, we just called it something else.
Back then, we didn’t write think pieces about it. We watched it wither and die, usually right after the consultant left and before the coffee budget was restored.
The pattern is always the same.
Step one: declare the old way broken.
Step two: introduce a shiny replacement with a confident diagram.
Step three: blame the people when it doesn’t work.
Eventually, someone mutters, “This used to work better,” and is ignored until enough people are tired of listening.
What fascinates me isn’t the failure. Failure is expected.
What fascinates me is the surprise.
At my age, surprise is reserved for wildlife encounters and unplanned medical procedures. Everything else is just a rerun.
This isn’t cynicism. It’s pattern recognition.
And patterns don’t care what you name them.
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