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A review by careythesixth
The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary by Mark Sanborn
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.
I... can't. This might ve one of the most tone deaf things I've ever read.
Try to take pride in your work - yes. Try to do your best - yes. If you're in management, set a good example - yes. But this book is the very definition of toxic positivity. The author is white, male, and financially wealthy. He has no concept of what it means to do the work of a "Fred." It's well and good to tell the average worker to work like Beethoven or Michaelangelo, but he doesn't seem to understand that the average worker isn't going to be compensated or respected like Beethoven or Michaelangelo. I'm not saying that money alone should motivate our quality of work. But goddamn, I have a real hard time demanding/expecting exceptional work from anyone working a job where the majority of customer interactions are abusive and the pay isn't enough to live on no matter how careful you are with expenses. It's really hard to be enthusiastic about your work when the result is abuse and having to choose between rent and groceries.
Service employees of any kind across the board deserve better treatment, better pay, the right to say no to abusive customers, the benefit of our time being our own off the clock, and permission to have bad days or even average days.
Being a Fred sounds like pure, unadulterated hell. We are humans. We should be treated as humans - not as mere implements with no other purpose than servitude. Which brings me to my own professional mantra: Service, not servitude. Freds are cogs. We are humans and should be treated and behave as such.
Try to take pride in your work - yes. Try to do your best - yes. If you're in management, set a good example - yes. But this book is the very definition of toxic positivity. The author is white, male, and financially wealthy. He has no concept of what it means to do the work of a "Fred." It's well and good to tell the average worker to work like Beethoven or Michaelangelo, but he doesn't seem to understand that the average worker isn't going to be compensated or respected like Beethoven or Michaelangelo. I'm not saying that money alone should motivate our quality of work. But goddamn, I have a real hard time demanding/expecting exceptional work from anyone working a job where the majority of customer interactions are abusive and the pay isn't enough to live on no matter how careful you are with expenses. It's really hard to be enthusiastic about your work when the result is abuse and having to choose between rent and groceries.
Service employees of any kind across the board deserve better treatment, better pay, the right to say no to abusive customers, the benefit of our time being our own off the clock, and permission to have bad days or even average days.
Being a Fred sounds like pure, unadulterated hell. We are humans. We should be treated as humans - not as mere implements with no other purpose than servitude. Which brings me to my own professional mantra: Service, not servitude. Freds are cogs. We are humans and should be treated and behave as such.