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WELLBEING
Why our
friendships
matter, in life
and work
Humanity and relationships underpin the
future of work, so invest in your social
capital and nurture your friendships.
MARGARET HEFFERNAN
ENTREPRENEUR, AUTHOR & TED SPEAKER
any 20th century myths still abound:
Efficiency is everything. Business is
unemotional. To reach the top, you
must see everyone as a rival and take
them out. The more hours you work, the more
ruthlessly you behave, the more successful you’ll
be. Psychopaths flourish: learn from them.
The newest myth is that the human side of
work only matters now because every other
aspect of work will vanish, replaced by robots,
artificial intelligence and new technologies. This
is nonsense too; the human ingredients in work
underpin every breakthrough we see today.
M
Groups versus heroic soloists
Preserving and strengthening our humanity is the
order of the day. Staying smart, energetic, alert
and able to use the genuine intelligence each of
us brings into work isn’t a luxury, but a requirement.
Brains must be focused (multi-tasking is bust)
and rested (work more than 55 hours a week, and
mental and physical health are at risk).
Complex decisions are too multi-faceted for
heroic soloists; groups can see more and better
possibilities. Da Vinci didn’t paint all his pictures
and Steve Jobs didn’t design the iPhone alone.
Expertise matters – it’s just that we will need a lot
of it, well-articulated and generously shared.
WHY WE NEED
SOCIAL SKILLS
FOR WORK
Organisations specifically
recruit for social capital
skills to build networks
and employer brand.
Machines cannot
currently mimic complex
human interaction. Most
job growth since the
1980s has been in
occupations that are
social-skill intensive.
Work relationships
impact job satisfaction;
skills development;
staff turnover; morale
and absenteeism,
safeguarding against
pressures during times
of economic or
social adversity.
Why we need each other
Teams only achieve their potential to the degree
that they are diverse, safe, open and trusting. We
may all be biased, but we can learn to listen and
appreciate the richness of multiple perspectives.
This isn’t about political correctness, it’s about
honing skills demanded for collective intelligence.
None of this is easy. It will demand enormous
emotional, intellectual, moral, spiritual and social
stamina. Looking after ourselves and each other
is how work and lives grow in value, meaning and
joy. We need each other: as intelligent sources,
sounding boards, coaches, critics, devil’s
advocates and friends – not just Facebook ‘friends’
or LinkedIn contacts.
Bringing our whole selves to work
Part of ‘bringing your whole self to work’ is the
ability to forge strong bonds with people. If you
go in with the mindset that you’re not going to
make friends, you’re leaving a big part of yourself
behind. You might do transactions well, but you’ll
miss opportunities. It makes it hard to hold onto
any kind of ethical reasoning and you become an
automaton. If this is the case, your job can probably
be automated.
In the era of the 100-year life, we have to be
lifelong students, eager to learn, question, study,
experiment, reject, accept and adapt. Learning
from others, from history, from friends, colleagues,
experts and deviants – is the shape of things
to come.
RESOURCES
Mental Health Foundation (2016), Relationships in the 21st century.
bit.ly/RelationshipsInThe21stCentury
FUTURE TALENT // 75