First Thing Monday #52
This week we reconnect with old colleagues, watch workaholic culture crumble, and turn that tiny-red-duffle into a style statement ☎️😓👜
🧑🏻🎄 Happy Holidays, y’all! Hope you were able to relax last week. Here’s to making the most of the last few weeks of 2024!
☑️ FTM is a newsletter that includes a recap of all the news you need to know to make better career decisions. Each issue also includes four tips for developing better relationships at work and a deep dive into a pressing topic. Issues come out on Monday mornings!
❓ Have a work question or topics you’d like us to discuss? Drop me a line 📱 simply reply to this email or leave a comment below!
I’m Jon Cochran, a workplace sociologist with over 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:
Connect With One Old Colleague or Boss (The Wall Street Journal): If you're looking to reconnect with an old professional contact, the key is to approach it with authenticity and purpose. Leadership coaches recommend first clarifying your goals, then crafting an honest opening that acknowledges the time gap – something like "Blast from the past" or a reference to a shared memory. While you should do your homework (like checking their LinkedIn), show genuine interest in learning what they've been up to directly from them. Make the interaction meaningful by mentioning specific experiences you valued and offering to be helpful in return. If you don't hear back after two attempts, move on gracefully. Once reconnected, maintain the relationship with regular check-ins, ranging from monthly for close contacts to annually for acquaintances, ensuring you're nurturing these relationships before you actually need them.
How Not to Organize In-House Experts: Lessons From Boeing (MIT Sloan Management Review): Good companies aren't just built on hiring talented people - they're built on organizing those talented people effectively. While Boeing's story shows the dramatic consequences of scattered expertise (with safety experts unable to collaborate, leading to serious airplane safety issues), similar challenges can show up in any workplace. Think of the experienced chef who can't properly train new kitchen staff because they're stuck doing paperwork, or the skilled salesperson whose customer insights never reach the product team because there's no clear way to share feedback. Success comes from thoughtful organization: keeping skilled people close enough to learn from each other, recognizing talents beyond official job titles, valuing people who can bridge different teams, and ensuring managers actually understand the work their teams do. Whether it's a restaurant, a small business, or a global corporation, having smart, skilled people isn't enough - they need to be organized thoughtfully to make the most of their talents.
More Doctors Push Back Against Medicine's 'Workaholic' Culture (MedPage Today): A generational shift in medical workplace culture has emerged as younger doctors push back against traditional "workaholic" expectations. While older physicians often prioritized career above all else, the newer generation advocates for better work-life balance. The debate reflects broader changes in healthcare – doctors are increasingly employees rather than practice owners, facing more bureaucratic demands and reduced autonomy under corporate systems. As the industry adapts through solutions like team-based care and shift-based schedules, many experienced physicians now acknowledge that the old approach led to concerning outcomes like high suicide and divorce rates. This evolution in medicine, traditionally one of the most demanding professions, serves as a bellwether for how other industries might navigate similar cultural changes around work-life balance.
On-the-job training is broken. That hurts companies and workers. (Business Insider): Corporate America faces a widespread problem of inadequate on-the-job training that has left workers of all generations feeling unprepared and struggling to perform their roles effectively. According to Gallup, less than half of US employees know what's expected of them at work, leading to $8.8 trillion in lost productivity worldwide. While companies often rely on tech solutions like apps and training modules to fill the gap, these tools frequently fail to provide the human connection and practical knowledge needed. The situation has been exacerbated by factors including the rise of remote work, reduction in middle management (who traditionally handled training), and companies' preference for "lean" operations that cut training budgets.
Grindr targeted nascent union with return-to-office ultimatum, labor board alleges (Los Angeles Times): The LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr has come under scrutiny from federal labor regulators for allegedly using return-to-office mandates as a union-busting tactic in 2023. When Grindr announced the end of remote work, requiring employees to relocate to Los Angeles, Chicago, or San Francisco, nearly half the workforce (80 employees) left the company rather than comply. The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint stating this was an illegal move to retaliate against unionization efforts, as the terminated employees were part of a 120-person group attempting to organize with Communications Workers of America. While Grindr denies these allegations and claims the return-to-office plan predated union efforts, the company gave workers minimal time to relocate. Despite this labor controversy receiving relatively little public attention, Grindr continues to thrive financially, with its stock up 70% this year and its paying user base growing to 1.1 million.
🚰 The Water Cooler
You may not know this, but I love the artistry of wigs! You can imagine my delight when Vogue recently went behind the scenes with Saturday Night Live’s wig department!
Speaking of wigs, we’ve been going back and watching Detroiters for the first time. Looking for a gateway? Try Season 1, Episode 4 “Devereux Wigs.”
I know it seems like the ultimate get-rich-quick-scheme: selling your old clothes to all those hungry vintage shoppers. Unfortunately, the math behind the vintage business doesn’t add up for the big companies (The RealReal, Grailed) or the mom-and-pop-on-Etsy variety. I also love Amanda Mull’s take on fashion; she’s great!
In case you missed it: three out of the four members of BLACKPINK have released solo music this year. Whether it’s Lisa’s “Rockstar,” Jennie’s “Mantra,” or Rose’s “A.P.T.” the ladies are serving something for everyone!
📖 Reflections for this week:
Building better relationships at work starts with understanding how we show up in different contexts and with different people.
For you: Stop apologizing for having a life outside of work - everyone you know who has a job also has relationships and responsibilities beyond their role. Your personal experiences and challenges don't just exist alongside your work life - they actively make you a more empathetic professional and contribute to your unique value at work. Take a moment to notice how you show up in different contexts: are you essentially the same person managing a family dinner and a team meeting, or do you shift dramatically between spaces? Sometimes the traits we think we need to hide at work - like vulnerability, humor, or our natural communication style - are actually the things that could help us build stronger connections and do our best work.
Your boss: It might feel weird at first, but being upfront with your boss about personal circumstances affecting your work (without oversharing) can actually strengthen your relationship. Sharing context about your life can help your supervisor better understand your needs and working style. For example, when sharing significant life changes, lead with the impact and your plan: "I'm starting an evening graduate program this fall. I've mapped out how to handle this - I'd like to shift my schedule earlier to accommodate classes, and I've already spoken with the team about coordinating our collaboration time." This approach demonstrates professionalism while helping your boss understand and support your needs.
Your direct reports: Want your team to feel comfortable being themselves at work? Model integration by appropriately sharing your own challenges and learnings. When sharing personal experiences, focus on lessons that could help others navigate similar situations: "I've learned to block focus time in the morning because that's when I do my best strategic thinking" or "After burning out at my last job, I now make sure to take real breaks during the day." Recognize that your team's personal lives aren't "interruptions" to work but rather part of who they are - their experiences and perspectives make your team stronger. For example, when a team member needs to adjust their schedule for personal commitments, focus on finding solutions rather than treating it as a disruption: "Let's figure out how to make this work" sends a powerful message that you value them as whole people, not just employees.
Your co-workers: Building authentic relationships with coworkers doesn't mean sharing everything - it means letting natural connections develop while respecting boundaries. Start by sharing appropriate personal context that helps explain your work style or decisions: "I prefer written updates because I like to think things through before responding" or "I learned from my time in customer service that starting with questions usually leads to better solutions." When you allow your natural personality traits like humor or creativity to flow into work interactions, you make it easier for others to do the same. Just remember that colleagues may have different comfort levels with personal sharing, so take your cues from their responses.
⚡️ And one last thing…
This whole red duffle thing started, like most style-related obsessions for me, with Pharrell Williams. I even wore Pharrell-designed Billionaire Boys Club for my wedding! If you haven’t had a chance to read Pharrell’s Places and Spaces I’ve Been or A Fish Doesn’t Know It’s Wet, they’re two must-reads to understand Pharrell’s impact on fashion, style, and design. I feel like I could write at least one book about his influence on music alone!
The seed Pharrell planted for me started with his updated take on the Speedy bag from his first days at Louis Vuitton in 2023. The Speedy is essentially a duffle bag shape. After years of fanny packs, belt bags, and crossbodies, a duffle felt like a new shape. Ok, not totally new.
Was anyone else obsessed with Alexander Wang’s Rocco bag that debuted in 2009? It’s heavy and lacks shape is a great descriptor but I loved the Rocco anyway. I’d gone down a vintage rabbit hole looking for a perfect Rocco, then lost interest when I was struck by Jalil’s Johnson’s vintage Speedy. The way Johnson carried the bag, it no longer seemed like a shapeless lump but sculptural. I loved the gesture of having to use your hands to hold it, no crossbody strap in sight.
I quickly realized this was probably all a fantasy for me. Is this bag shape even practical? At the right size, a Speedy-sized duffle could be perfect for most days. I need my bag to hold a bottle of water, my laptop, and a couple of zip pouches full of cords, gum, Tums, and hand sanitizer. Even after many scrolls on TheRealReal and Poshmark, I just couldn’t pull the trigger on any vintage LV.
At this point, I should admit something—I am actually a Coach girl. My first fancy bag purchase was a Coach briefcase (kind of like this one). I was so delicate with that bag. Now it just sits in my closet because I’m scared of scratching the leather. Coach makes some of the most beautiful bags with great materials, and they’re mostly pretty affordable. Before the duffle, mini-tote bags were my obsession and Coach did me so right with this one.
It’s with Coach where this story starts to move. I found a great-looking mini duffle bag at Coach! Then I got to looking around and found another at Filson. After all this thinking about mini duffle bags, it really felt like they were everywhere and that my time to get one had come. But the price was really getting me. I couldn’t justify any of these bags.
Still shy of making a major purchase, I got served an LA Apparel ad on Instagram that included a mini duffle. And this duffle was in my holy grail color: red. I couldn’t have manifested this more completely! Compared to the Coach and Filson bags, the LA Apparel couldn’t compare. It was $20. A cost that was also a safe bet as an investment—what if I bought this tiny bag and hated it? At $20, I knew I could commit to the bit and not feel too much guilt.
The first day I took my red mini duffle for a spin was a day in the office. I often use days like this to test drive new items, see how they feel, and how they look. Often I will also carry a larger bag full of my gear (laptop, water, gum) and supplement it with a smaller bag if I’m going for a lewk. Did I mention this bag didn’t come with a crossbody strap? So it was just me and my hands holding this tiny red bag. While I cannot fit much in there, I can get my wallet, phone, keys, and at least one zipper pouch in.
There was something off, though, about the scale of this bag and having to always hold it in my hands. I’m so down with being dainty, but the size of this bag made me feel like a giant holding a doll’s bag. Then it hit me: what if this tiny duffle could be a crossbody bag?
Was I simply leaning into the hypebeast history I was trying to get away from by throwing another nylon bag across my chest? I said no. No, I was not! This style was inspired by the mighty Louis Vuitton, the doyen of travel—this is not just a nylon bag!
But it really was, and that made it much easier to convert this duffle into a crossbody by borrowing a strap from another bag. Making the bag my own actually felt more Pharrell than Louis anyway. And isn't that exactly what Pharrell does? He takes something familiar—whether it's a beat, a clothing style, or a classic bag—and flips it into something unexpected. My $20 hack job might not be runway-worthy, but the spirit was the same.
Converting my $20 tiny red duffle wasn’t just a practical fix—it was also a metaphor for my approach to style in 2024. A leather bag, of any size, doesn’t make much practical sense for me. I’m one of those people who throws luck (and caution) into the wind every time I put a bag on the ground. I need that bag to not be too precious. Would I be as obsessed with a red duffle if I had spent more money? Honestly, I think I’d be more self-conscious and maybe even feel some shame. There was once a Fendi bag I was obsessing over, only to be greeted with it in the wild and find my Fendi fever markedly cooled. It just didn’t look as good or interesting as I thought. There is no shame, though, in being inspired by folks like Pharrell and his designs. The inspo that started as a $1M handbag became a $20 nylon crossbody that I could fearlessly style and modify. The real luxury here isn’t in carrying the exact same bag Pharrell designed—it’s in having the confidence to make it your own.
My tiny red duffle bag isn’t precious. But it does remind me of something I’ve learned about style: the best pieces aren’t the ones we preserve, but the ones we adapt and use until they become truly ours. The bag that made me feel like a giant with a doll’s accessory became the bag I needed once I stopped trying to carry it the “right way.”
Maybe that’s the real lesson here: not just from luxury to accessible, or from handheld to crossbody, but from seeking validation through designer brands and runway styles to finding confidence in my own taste. Pharrell’s genius at Louis Vuitton isn’t just in updating classics like the Speedy; it’s in showing us how to take something traditional and remake it using our own language. My tiny red duffle might not be what I originally envisioned, but that’s exactly what makes it perfect: it’s not trying to be anything other than what it is. It’s just a nylon bag!
Bye wig!
Follow me on Instagram at @misterfantastik
I didn’t expect such a thoughtful essay about the tiny red duffel. Now I feel bad for relentlessly mocking it. Okay that feeling passed. I’m glad you found happiness via this bag journey.
Jon, interesting as always. Lots to digest. Two struck me right away. The on job training entry dropped me right back to when I was a manager. Not only were we not helping new people acclimate but we weren't very good at assessing their potential. The damage cut both ways. One thing I think I got right tho' was encouraging staff to have a life outside work - not just for them but for the quality of the advice they gave people with ordinary lives. I may have to post something on both topics myself. Thanks!