This is the film that comes to mind when I hear talk of “management,” “human resources” or, worse, “corporate culture.”
Part of today’s youth marching in the streets has understood the role reserved for them in the conventional system awaiting them: to become a resource, a cog in an immense machine whose purpose they neither understand nor see why they should agree to devote their existence to it.
It is the old question of alienation in Marx: at what point does man cease to be the subject of his work and become the instrument of a system that surpasses him?
But this youth also forgets something: the world may be absurd, unjust and brutal, but it is also, in many respects, less terrible than it once was.
And existence has never been a promise of happiness or ease.
This is where part of our educational failure lies: we have gradually stopped teaching young people to confront the complexity of the world and instead explained to them that they should be able to be protected from it.
The great social wheel will grind many of them down, that is obvious.
But it will also allow others to discover unexpected paths, activities in which they will find pleasure, recognition and above all that personal satisfaction which gives coherence to existence.
Camus had posed the problem: if the world offers no predefined meaning, it is up to us to construct that meaning despite the absurdity of our condition.
It is by rubbing up against the world, and not by continually seeking to protect oneself from it, that one sometimes ends up finding a reason to bear it.
But one must still have encountered adults who understood this, who have been through their own failures and accepted enough risk to show a path, even an uncertain one.
That is the whole difference between educating and simply protecting.
For in a Western world collapsing under its own hatred of risk, where uncertainty becomes an anomaly, failure an injustice and every difficulty a problem calling for additional regulation, how can we still pass on a taste for an existence that would not be entirely programmed?
Nietzsche spoke of “becoming what one is.”
But that presupposes precisely not knowing, at the outset, what one is going to become.
It presupposes making mistakes, losing, starting over, discovering that our certainties were sometimes ridiculous.
It presupposes accepting the risk of living.
And perhaps that is the paradox of our era: we claim to be preparing young people for the future while building a society that regards uncertainty—though it is constitutive of any future—as something intolerable.
We ask them to find their place in the world, but we no longer show them anything but places already drawn.
And when they refuse this world, we are surprised.
One does not pass on the courage to live by teaching the fear of losing everything.
LinkedIn Sources
- LinkedIn conversation: view the post
- Profile: Pierre Jean Duvivier dit Sage (LinkedIn)
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Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs The Film That Comes to Mind When I Hear Management HR or Corporate Culture
1 Which film are you talking about
Most likely Office Space Its the goto movie for management HR and corporate culture jokes
2 What is Office Space about
A burnedout office worker Peter Gibbons rebels against his companys pointless bureaucracy layoffs and meaningless culture initiatives
3 Why does it come to mind for HR and management
Because it mocks real workplace problems pointless paperwork useless bosses forced motivational programs and layoff culture
4 Is it a comedy or a serious critique
Both Its a comedy but its based on real frustrations people have at work
5 Whats the famous flair scene about
A boss demands employees wear flair to show personality Its a joke about fake corporate culture and pointless rules
6 What does the movie say about corporate culture
That culture can be performed rather than real slogans and perks dont fix bad management
7 Whats the TPS report joke
Its a meaningless report that gets passed around with no purpose a satire of busywork and bureaucracy
8 Whats the printer scene about
Employees destroy a broken printer out of frustration Its a joke about builtup workplace anger
9 Whats the consultants plotline
Two efficiency experts help decide layoffs It shows how management fads can hurt real people
10 Is the movie a good guide to management
No its satire But its a useful warning about what not to do
11 What are common management problems it shows
Micromanagement unclear goals pointless processes and bosses who dont listen
12 What HR problems does it show
Layoffs fake culture programs ignored employee feedback and low morale
13 Whats a practical tip from the films lessons
Cut busywork give clear goals and listen to employees before launching culture programs
14 Whats an advanced takeaway for leaders
Culture is what people experience daily not whats printed on
