First Thing Monday #59

This week we say no to workslop, check in on NewJeans, and reflect on being bad at piano 🍵👖🎹

Dec 01, 2025

a person sitting at a piano playing a musical instrument — Photo by Mathias Reding on Unsplash

☕ Welcome to the latest edition of First Thing Monday! As you’ll soon read, I’ve had music on the brain for months now! I hope you had a great holiday last week. I’m thankful you’re here!

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 improving your 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 16 years of experience leading operations, sales, and product development teams and working with companies like J.Crew, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and Duke University. 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:

Study finds workplace injuries increase significantly in the heat (NPR): I once worked in an attic office without central air and was tasked with replacing the window unit. Because it was so hot, I was sweating profusely, and the AC unit was so heavy, I nearly dropped it on my co-worker. Neither of us should’ve been trying to replace that air conditioner, but the delusion of scrappiness we ascribe to small businesses made us think we could handle it. Here’s the thing: heat doesn’t just cause heat illness. Increased temperatures also mess with cognitive functions like hand-eye coordination, attention, memory, and judgment. A new Harvard study found that workplace injuries rise significantly when temperatures hit 80-85 degrees and really escalate above 90. Researchers estimate there were 28,000 workplace injuries in 2023 linked to hot conditions. States like California and Oregon that require water, shade, and rest breaks above certain temperatures have fewer heat-related injuries than states without protections. Your workplace should be protecting you from the heat—full stop.
Pointless Tasks Linked To Employee Stress And ‘Cyberloafing’ (SMBTech): Have you ever been asked to do something at work that made you think, “Wait, why am I the one doing this?” Researchers found that tasks outside your actual role, like asking a nurse to handle maintenance requests or a software engineer to organize office parties, leave people feeling undervalued and mentally exhausted. It’s not that the tasks are pointless, but being assigned work that doesn’t match your role makes you feel like your actual skills don’t matter. Employees who stewed on these frustrations after work were more likely to check out the next day, browsing social media or shopping online instead of working. Leaders should stop assigning work that doesn’t align with someone’s role, and when it does happen, give people clear communication and more control. Maybe instead of teaching employees how to cope with mismatched assignments, we could just be more thoughtful about who we’re asking to do what.
Instead of improving productivity, AI is creating ‘workslop’ (Fast Company): Ok, I’ll go first—I am guilty of submitting AI-generated workslop! A new study from Stanford and BetterUp Labs found that while employees are using AI more than ever, they’re often using it to create subpar work that lacks substance. It’s thoughtless, sloppy work that someone will eventually have to clean up. 40% of employees say they’ve received workslop in the past month, and 53% feel annoyed when they receive it. Half view colleagues who send workslop as less creative, capable, and reliable. Nearly a third say they’re less likely to want to work with that person again. So what happened to all those promises about the time we’d get back and the efficiency we’d experience? Using AI carelessly might be eroding trust among coworkers just as fast as it claims to speed up our work. And those of us being sloppy? Stop the slop!
Deloitte forced to refund Aussie government after admitting it used AI to produce error-strewn report (Tech Radar): Speaking of workslop, here’s the cautionary tale we all needed. Deloitte, a major consulting firm that literally advocates for responsible AI use, admitted to using generative AI to produce a report for the Australian government without proper safeguards. The result? Fake citations from academics who don’t exist, false footnotes, made-up court quotes, and enough typos to make you wince. The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations had to re-upload the report after removing over a dozen false references and rewriting sections. Deloitte is now repaying the final AU$440,000 or $288,170 USD installment of their contract. Dr. Christopher Rudge from the University of Sydney put it bluntly: “You cannot trust the recommendations when the very foundation of the report is built on a flawed, originally undisclosed, and non-expert methodology.” If a consulting firm this sophisticated can mess it up this badly, what does that mean for the rest of us rushing to use AI without proper checks?
Columbia professor says ‘don’t be yourself’ in the workplace, actually. Here’s why authenticity is ‘overrated’ (Fortune): Remember when “bring your whole self to work” became the rallying cry for workplace culture? We’ve spent years being told that authenticity is the key to great leadership. Well, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a business psychology professor, has some news: while being authentic might make you feel good, it doesn’t actually make you a better leader or colleague. We conflated feeling authentic with being effective, and those aren’t the same thing. Knowing when to adapt your behavior to what the situation demands is what actually makes you effective at work. Research backs this up: a 2023 study found that leaders who managed how they came across to others were more effective than those focused on maintaining authenticity. You might see making a crass joke as showing your sense of humor, but others might just see you as insensitive. Oversharing what’s happening in your personal life might feel vulnerable and real to you, but it can make your team question your ability to lead. The trick isn’t being fake—it’s recognizing that just because you feel like saying something doesn’t mean you should. Maybe the real question isn’t whether to be authentic, but whether being authentic to yourself is worth making everyone else uncomfortable.

🚰 The Water Cooler

I was recently in LA for ComicCon with The New Futurists. We saw our friends Annie and Jo of Momstomp fame! We also had amazing tacos at 33 Taps. So amazing in fact, I had the tacos twice while we were there. Can’t recommend enough!
For the latest on NewJeans, we look to NPR for a breakdown on what happened over the last year and what the future may hold for one of my favorite K-pop groups!
With the deluge of gift guides hitting the web this week, I thought I’d share some of my favorites to help you get started on your gift buying! The New York Times Magazine has some very specific recommendations that I thought were helpful. This guide from New York Magazine for seven-year-olds (the list is good for kids of many ages) is also great! And we can’t forget the parents and grandparents in our lives.
I’ve also been obsessed with this Erykah Badu interview on Popcast from last month. She is the coolest.
Leave a comment

📖 Reflections for this week:

This week, we’re thinking about consequences—not in a doom-and-gloom way, but in the practical sense of understanding how our decisions ripple outward.

For yourself: Before you send that email, volunteer for that project, or speak up in that meeting, pause and ask: “What happens next?” When you agree to take on work outside your expertise because you want to be helpful, what does that signal to your boss about your bandwidth? When you share something personal, how might your team interpret it? The most effective professionals aren’t just reactive; they’re playing a few moves ahead, considering how today’s choice affects tomorrow’s relationships.

For your boss: When you bring a problem or proposal to your supervisor, try including what you’ve already considered: “Here’s what I’m thinking, and here’s what I anticipate might happen if we go this route.” This shows you’re thinking strategically and invites them to help you see blind spots. Your boss likely has experience with consequences you haven’t encountered yet. Share your reasoning and create space for guidance before problems emerge.

For your direct report(s): The decisions you make today set the tone for how your team operates tomorrow. When you assign work, are you thinking about whether it matches someone’s role, or just trying to get it off your plate? When you share your stress, are you considering how your team might internalize that anxiety? Your position means your choices carry extra weight. Before you delegate, vent, or make a call, ask yourself: “How will this land for them?”

For your co-workers: Every interaction is building or eroding trust. When you rush through work to meet a deadline, are you considering who might have to clean up mistakes later? Small thoughtless moments accumulate. Your reputation isn’t built on big gestures—it’s built on whether you consistently consider the impact of your everyday choices.

⚡️ And one last thing…

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been obsessed with music. I loved listening to it. I loved singing–mostly in the shower, but I was in the choir at school in fifth and sixth grades. Not because I was a great singer, but I think they needed warm bodies to show up to perform during mass. Through some sort of cunning (he offered me free lessons), I was able to talk the school band director into letting me join for a season as the bass drum player. That was the closest I’d come to learning an instrument. But my band director was not having any of my shenanigans when the next school year started, so my band career was short-lived. I did not get much out of performing, but I loved learning the piece and improving over time. With each practice, I could feel and hear my improvements as a drummer. School became about getting good grades, and because we didn’t have a formal music program at my school, I focused on my studies and figured music wasn’t in the cards for me.

Then something changed in 2014. Mostly, I think it was just the availability of music production software. As a kid, I’d pirated Fruity Loops and Cool Edit to make some rudimentary remixes. I am still convinced a mash-up of Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and Q-Tip’s “Vivrant Thing” is a hit! Then in 2014, I had a little bit of money, and on a whim of sorts, I bought Logic Pro. And then proceeded to make sketches of a few hundred songs over the next ten years. I paired my Logic work with hours and hours of YouTube. I love any video that shows a producer recreating a hit song. I spent much of 2017 trying to make “Drake-type beats.” But like Drake, after a while, those beats all start to sound the same. The videos were incredibly helpful, but I have to be honest, they did nothing for teaching me how to actually play an instrument. I couldn’t make sense of anything the music theory and chord progression how-to videos were showing. I got to a place where I wasn’t developing any skills; I was just doing the same things over and over.

There is something to be said about doing a thing over and over. But doing the same things without any direction or help? That may border on insanity! And that’s where music lessons come in. At some point last year, my husband Ben suggested I look into piano lessons. He knew of my interest in music and that I wanted to learn an instrument. We both agreed that there might be some value to having someone teach me the piano directly. That felt like an evolution, from thinking I could teach myself to realizing I needed help.

My first lessons were on Saturday mornings, which made for some anxious wake-up calls. It was like being in school all over again. Did I do my homework? Would my teacher see that I’d been practicing? Would I have to evade questions about my practicing because I actually hadn’t done it? Once I worked through my own awkwardness and fears, I was able to be more present in my lessons. We started with Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space,” which may feel like a weird choice for me. When my first teacher asked me what kind of music I wanted to play, this was the first song to come to mind. Ben and I laughed because I am not a Swiftie, but it felt like an easy enough song to play. And with that, I was off to the races!

Fast forward a year and a half. While I am still improving my finger placement and ability to play with both hands, I’ve come a long way. My lessons are on Mondays, which leaves the weekends and evenings for practicing. If I have a spare few minutes, I’ll plonk down in front of the piano and run through some scales or chords. I’ve also been working on a set of songs as part of the adult band I’m in. I take my lessons at The School of Rock, where their curriculum is actually tied to group performance. So as we’re learning instruments, we’re also learning how to play with others. And that is a whole other level of complexity, but it has been the most fun.

When we first decided to learn Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” (from the first Transformers movie), I rolled my eyes. And then I realized the intro is all piano. In fact, much of the song is a single piano riff played over and over. The first time we practiced this song, I thought my fingers might fall off. During my first year of lessons, I was obsessed with learning Adele’s “Someone Like You,” with its shimmering piano. But y’all, that shimmer comes from a piano player who is playing with ease and confidence. I’d find my fingers would start to hurt by the time the first chorus came around, and my playing would peter out. The dexterity for that sort of playing only comes with time, so when we were in band practice, I’d just shake my hands out, stretch my fingers, and then try to pick up again with the rest of the band. Now that I think about it, that moment of feeling like I couldn’t do it, but instead of quitting, I’d just take a break and get back into it, feels like what I’m actually trying to do here, to enjoy the process without focusing on the end result.

Maybe there’s a freedom about knowing there will always be more to learn, more ways to grow, more ways to think about music. That freedom comes from practice, I think. Music also became a bit of a compelling distraction. Well, I certainly can’t write right now. I have to practice piano! Just last weekend, I had Substack pulled open with my latest newsletter draft. I looked at it for a few minutes and then walked over to the piano instead. I let my time and energy go into what felt the most fulfilling, and for the past few months, that has been music. I’ve had three-quarters of a newsletter finished for weeks now, struggling to even begin the final essay. And it was easy to ignore, because I had new songs to learn.

A few weeks ago, we added the Bee Gees’ “Staying Alive” to our set. That song was on repeat at our house when I was a kid, so it’s been fun to learn. The music focus has also helped me understand more about my own creative fulfillment–that maybe there is a freedom in doing something without a “deliverable” attached to it. Had I turned my writing into just another work-like task? Through some reflection, I realized that maybe I had. Instead of thinking about writing as a tool, I was focused on it being the thing that I needed to do, and get right. I have an index card with a few half-baked ideas that I jotted down because they seemed like good essay prompts. And then I’d sit down to write and have zero motivation because none of the prompts were that exciting anymore.

I was approaching writing as something that had to get done, a box to check off my to-do list. Honestly, that did not motivate me at all. I think I was even avoiding writing because I’d turned it into a task to avoid. But music became something I could do in small spurts and feel good. If I sat at the piano for even a few minutes, it felt like a win. If I didn’t sit down at the computer and force out 2000 words, I felt like I didn’t have anything to say.

Something that’s not lost on me is the length of time I lived only doing things I was good at. How many of us get frustrated the first time we do something because we’re not good at it? How many of us quit doing that thing because that first time wasn’t a roaring success? I think I have a lifetime of projects where I left them half-started because I kind of sucked at it; I’m looking at my sewing machine specifically here. But since starting piano lessons, I’ve also become more aware of the studies that show that adults can continue to learn new things, and that it is even good for our long-term mental health to try new things. And all of that is great, but no one tells you about the tension that comes from being a beginner.

Even after ten years of playing music on my own, I still needed the basic building blocks to move forward. It’s like I had to go back to the beginning to be able to grow. At work, we’re always supposed to know what we’re doing. When was the last time you tried something you’d definitely suck at for the first few months? When was the last time you did something just to do it, with no KPIs attached?

We’re gearing up for our final show of the season later this month, and I was trading piano lesson notes with my seven-year-old niece, who is also learning the piano. She was shocked that we had six songs to play. For her holiday recital, each pianist gets five minutes for their performance. I told her the secret: none of us are that good yet, so it’s more about the fun we’re having.

Here’s what I’ve learned from eighteen months of being bad at piano: being a beginner at something means no one expects you to be great. There’s a freedom in that. At work, we’re expected to perform, to deliver, to already know what we’re doing. But at band practice? I can mess up the Linkin Park riff for the fifteenth time and everyone just nods and we start again. No deliverable. No deadline. Just the doing of it.

When I sit down at the keyboard now, I’m not thinking about whether I’m good enough or whether this practice session “counts” as productive time. I’m just playing. And maybe that’s what I’d forgotten about writing: that it could be something I do because I want to, not because it’s Monday and the newsletter needs to go out.

My teacher told me early on that it’s okay to play some wrong notes, you’ll eventually get it, you just have to keep practicing. Turns out, that applies to more than piano. This weekend, I’ll be at the keyboard working on “Staying Alive.” And next week, I might actually want to write again. Or I might not. Either way, I’ll be practicing something.

And if you’re interested, our song choices were inspired by music from films. Here’s our setlist:

Linkin Park - What I’ve Done - Transformers

Simple Minds - Don’t Forget About Me - The Breakfast Club

Eminem - Lose Yourself - 8 Mile

The Goo Goo Dolls - Iris - City of Angels

Bee Gees - Stayin’ Alive - Saturday Night Fever

The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter - Goodfellas

Discussion about this post

Ready for more?