Late is not lazy ⏰
"There's nothing wrong with being fired."
—CNN founder Ted Turner
> late to the resistance | feelings aren't facts
At a coffee shop where I worked in Tulsa, an internal conversation took place about those of us who kept showing up late to their shifts.
I was a top offender.
When the owner asked for our input, I blamed reality as we "see" it.
- Science, psychology, and perception help explain why roughly one in five Americans is regularly late for work. 🚨
- It's not laziness or disrespect. Those are words interpreted by each of us subjectively, not objectively.
I've since moved on to another coffee shop. But the debate stayed with me.
It remains the Western custom to terminate workers for being late by a few minutes.
Why?
How much was spent training that worker? What are the hidden costs of needing to seem tough and decisive? (Words also made of air.)
It's not just bosses who scold us for lateness.
Timely co-workers glow with self-satisfaction. They glow even when there's no evidence minor lateness is affecting operations:
- "Well, I guess I'm just the kind of person who gets to work on time."
So what? Timeliness alone doesn't tell us whether you're a valuable worker.
Zealously enforcing timeliness might give one feelings of control, discipline, and respect.
But while feelings are valid, feelings aren't facts.
The owner of the coffee shop over Slack acknowledged it was an error to assume that on-time workers were the most valuable workers. 🕓
That came after I made an appeal to reason:
"There's not a clear, scientific correlation between minor lateness and work ethic and productivity. It's a cultural custom we react to emotionally. Amazon doesn’t punish for minor lateness."
Neither does the QuikTrip Corporation, Oklahoma’s beloved chain of convenience stores.
- next time "A swollen fallacy became visible almost immediately."
- listening Iggy and the Stooges "No Fun"
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