First Thing Monday #20
This week we dive deep into Renaissance, close the app out on Instagram-worthy office design, and brace for the Jólabókaflóðið 🐎📷📚
🪩 Anyone else still reeling from this weekend’s release of Renaissance: a film by Beyoncé? I just want to know if I’m the only one who woke up like this. This week’s “Water Cooler” features a celebration of Queen Bey. Thank you for bearing with me last week. I had COVID two weeks ago and had to sit out Thanksgiving and last week’s newsletter. Make sure you and your loved ones get the most recent vaccine as you gear up for the holidays!
☑️ FTM is a weekly newsletter that includes a recap of all the news Millennial and Gen Z leaders need to help make better decisions about their careers. Each issue also includes four tips for developing better relationships in your workplace. Weekly issues come out on Monday mornings!
❓ Have a work question or topics you’d like us to discuss? Drop me a line 📱 misterfantastiksubstack@gmail.com or leave us a comment below!
I’m Jon Cochran, a consumer goods executive with 15 years of experience leading sales, marketing, and product development teams and working with brands like J.Crew, Hilton, and Mattel. I want to provide resources to help you take control of your career and maximize your satisfaction in the workplace.
⏰ What to read before your first meeting:
What If Americans Are Happy at Work? (The Atlantic): Much of what’s been made about quiet quitting or the great resignation is clickbait. These articles stay at the top of many outlet’s most-read, though, because, “[they] succeed as a form of therapy…but in the business section, where it carries a patina of statistical authority.” I can’t help but think about those people we work with who constantly complain, in good times and bad. Time to tune them out.
‘Hybrid Work’ Is Not Two Kinds of Work (Entrepreneur): After working in physical locations for years before the pandemic, it felt like we were trained as “management, by walking around.” But in the hybrid world, leadership requires a nuanced understanding of remote team dynamics, and less focus on hours spent at a desk or a job site. A Stanford study finds that the happiness derived from a hybrid work model is equivalent to an 8% pay raise. I don’t know about 8%, but I’d say an engaged work model is worth every cent when it empowers workers through autonomy.
The Envy Office: Can Instagrammable Design Lure Young Workers Back? (NY Times): Deja vu! This article reads like something from 2018 and I’m surprised it passed muster as talk of “office of the future.” Stop taking so many pictures at work—I thought we’d agreed that Instagrammable anything was left for those 360-degree photo booths at your 32-year-old cousin’s wedding, not for influencing office design. I guess someone out there cares about a “blueberry muffin room?” The real kicker? Workers are still not getting the privacy they want.
‘Anti-social working’ is yet more proof people have stopped caring about the 9 to 5 (Metro): “They’re so offended when you don’t want to go to a happy hour like… I work almost ten hours a day and you want me to stay longer?” I hear you. Culture isn’t just about social activities, it’s about values and behaviors. How people are encouraged to speak to one another and how the business resolves difficult situations are much more important aspects of office culture. Also, let’s pay people for their work in their paychecks, not with pizza parties, happy hours, or merch.
2023 was the year middle managers cracked under the impossible mission of pleasing 2 impossible parties: Disenchanted workers and fed-up executives (Fortune): Middle management was targeted in a wide range of layoff announcements in 2023, as companies sought to flatten their org structures. And now survey data shows 80% of bosses are “accidental managers” who were promoted without adequate training. Middle managers might be touted as the key to solving burnout among their workers because those managers are often in charge of setting expectations and developing a supportive culture, but many managers feel they’re at the end of their rope. My two cents: we’ll continue seeing disruption in org charts like this throughout the next year and it’ll have effects on more than burnout.
🚰 The Water Cooler
I want to share a recent YouTube find: Renaissance Discovery: A Beyoncé & Daft Punk Album. Enjoy!
You might recognize Shiona Turini’s costume design work from Insecure and Lemonade. She also created the dazzling array of designer looks for Beyoncé and crew during the Renaissance World Tour. Shiona’s been a style hero of mine for years and her work sings in Renaissance!
Ok, but what about the visuals? I first learned about Andrew Makadsi’s work with Chloe & Halle, proteges of Beyoncé, during 2020’s promotion of their album Ungodly Hour. Then I started following Makadsi on Instagram and got to know more about his contribution to the way we see Bey and the crew.
We cannot ignore the music of it all! What many appreciate about a Beyoncé show is how she weaves musical history into her own mix of hits, giving us recontextualized ways of experiencing her music and how she sees her work in conversation with other artists. Amorphous showed up on my radar in 2022 after I streamed a slew of his mash-up remixes from YouTube. Naturally, an Insta-follow came after that. Then he announced his role on the musical direction team for the Renaissance World Tour! If this wunderkind is the future of music, we’re in for something very special.
📖 Reflections for this week:
For yourself: The holiday season marks the end of a busy period and the start of a slower time. Whether that means it’s in December or January, you may find yourself with fewer meetings and more air to breathe at work. Schedule a self-check-in to refocus your attention and goals, and to consider what is or is not working lately. For instance, as a starting point, I created a Word doc and listed all of the projects I’m working on and my collaborators. What needs your attention now? What can wait? What can you forget about?
For your boss: Don’t discount discomfort when it comes up during a tough conversation with your boss. What prompted you to feel uncomfortable? By having these conversations, you can learn to communicate effectively, resolve conflicts, and build stronger relationships with your supervisor. When you feel uncomfortable during a tough conversation, it may be a sign that you're pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and challenging yourself to grow. It could also be a sign of dysfunction in your relationship. This is a good time of year to reflect.
For your direct report(s): Consider allowing employees to work remotely for a few days or take extended breaks during the holiday season. This flexibility can help them reduce commuting time, spend more time with family and friends, and manage their holiday preparations. Implement a more relaxed approach to work hours during the holiday season, allowing employees to start and finish their day earlier or later to accommodate their holiday schedules.
For your co-workers: If you have co-workers who you know but don’t work with intimately, take the time to express gratitude for your colleagues' hard work and dedication. Acknowledge their contributions to the team and make sure they feel valued and appreciated. Small but meaningful expressions of gratitude can happen over a direct message, in a meeting, or even if your paths cross at the fridge. Just make it happen sometime!
⚡️ And one last thing…
Flyleaf Books, my local bookstore, introduced me to a concept called Jólabókaflóðið, an Icelandic tradition when people give books to each other in the months running up to Christmas. Special attention is paid to the book given on Christmas Eve, as it is meant to be read late into the night. The phrase Jólabókaflóðið also roughly translates into English as “the Christmas book flood.”
In the spirit of the Christmas book flood, I want to share some of my favorite books related to business, creativity, and work culture. Some books inspired shows like Succession; others inspire me not to be a selfish jerk to the people I try to lead. This could be called a gift guide, yes. I think of this list more like a community bookshelf, offering valuable, and sometimes horrible, lessons from some of our most well-known creatives, leaders, and companies.
Business:
When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm
Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America
After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch
Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art
Fashion:
The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew
The Beautiful Fall: Fashion, Genius, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris
Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss's Glossier
Film/Music/TV:
A Star Is Born: The Making of the 1954 Movie and Its 1983 Restoration
Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios
Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears
When Hollywood Had a King: The Reign of Lew Wasserman, Who Leveraged Talent into Power and Influence
Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers
Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy
Dream It! Do It!: My Half-Century Creating Disney's Magic Kingdoms
Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency
Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business
George Clinton & The Cosmic Odyssey Of The P-Funk Empire
The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory
❓Are there any books you think should I should read? Drop a comment or simply reply to this email! I am always looking for my next book!
You were made for Mondays like this,
Follow me on Instagram at @mistersfantastik
Ok, Jon, this is a great list. But where should I start? Do you have 2-3 that you'd suggest as must-reads?
I saw that NYT article about office design and thought of FTM. Seems more like PR from the design firm than anything related to how people want to work.