The Productive Pessimist

  Is it unprofessional to bring an iced coffee to a job interview, or are people who object just racist, ableist, and not engaged enough in revolutionary praxis? How do you handle rejecting candidates for opinions and attitudes uncovered during a social media background search? Is a 45minute vibe check where all parties are uncomfortable and awkwardly aware that bias is going to be operating, regardless of how frequently and loudly insistence is made that it isn't, the best way to choose your next high performer, or even your next mediocre-keeps-the-lights-on-and-customers-satisfied hire? Social media is the devil's current preferred mode of transport, especially where employability and recruitment are concerned.   While it would be a very control-focused employer indeed who thought it appropriate to stalk not just current employees, but potential  employees who have merely dared to send in applications for advertised vacant positions, and listen in to their conversa...

  In my run down coastal UK town, the past few weeks have been hell for local retailers, with teenagers treating major shoplifting sprees - taking electrical items, clothes, alcohol, not "just a few sweets or a bit of makeup" (assuming you're the kind of person who thinks it's 'fine' to steal 'small' things in the first place... I'm very much not  of that mindset...) - as something that's just...a normal part of them not having to be in school, and their parents aren't able to afford to be at home to supervise them. (If they're not actually at a legitimate job or course...lock them in the house. Take every set of keys, including those for the windows, with you...or teach your kids basic morals...) Parents aren't able to even take three  consecutive weeks off from most jobs, let alone six - so, even if you believe parents "should share the school holidays equally if they both work", it's not possible. In offices and oth...

  Everyone wants to be able to not just charge  the luxury price, but actually reliably bank  the luxury price, customer after customer, week in, week out, with no complaints or refunds, but without offering the luxury experience. 'Luxury' doesn't have to be unique, exclusive, or out-of-this-world 'special'; what makes something a luxury  experience, and has people choosing it without thinking about it, even when a very similar experience is available from a nearby business charging 50% or more less than the luxury item is that luxury = zero friction. The experience of minimal friction is why people will pay half a week's groceries cost to have a single meal delivered to them; for those people, the friction of identifying the meal you want to eat, pulling out/buying the ingredients, prepping and cooking them, and cleaning up afterwards is more friction than they can handle at that moment; in contrast, putting in an order and waiting for it to arrive is very low ...

  I don't usually write personal accounts. That's not what The Productive Pessimist  is about, I tell myself. Problems are universal. Problems don't have names. We're here, as a company, to solve anyone's  problems. But The Productive Pessimist also claims to provide the solution by living through  the problems.  We talk about how our lived experience informs and complements our professional expertise.  Which means, sometimes, personal accounts are exactly  what The Productive Pessimist is about. The recent EHRC legislation around access to "single sex" spaces is deeply personal. So is Kathleen Stock's recent musing on "why are  so many young people using walking sticks, hmmm?" I won't be linking to either of them. They'll come up easily enough on a Google search. I'll be speaking on both of them, because of both of them bring up problems for businesses, and both of them are deeply, brutally personal. The advisory in the title isn...

  "People who grew up in financial hardship more likely to be NEETs." "People diagnosed with ADHD or autism in childhood more likely to be NEETs." "Teens with depression and anxiety more likely to be NEETs." "Kids who were chosen last for school team sports more likely to be NEETs." "Children who spend breaktimes alone more likely to go on to be NEETs." NEETS - people, especially those aged 18-25, who are N ot in E ducation, E mployment, or T raining - are a persistent fretting point for politicians, and a frequent hand-wringing focus in the media. Almost every week, we see yet another "X type of child more likely grow up to be NEET" headline.  It seems as though there are so many  social problems causing people to shy away from paid employment, higher education, or worthwhile training pursuits.  So many problems, that need so many  schemes and organisations set up to address the problems  (often by Friends of People in Whiteh...

  The Productive Pessimist's focus is on "living the problems to bring through the answer."  That focus statement acknowledges three things: 1. There's always more than one problem 2. There's usually a single answer which covers all the problems 3. The best answers come from those who've lived the problems personally. This focus means we often find ourselves at odds with the more prominent non-profits of the UK, who do very well because businesses like to believe they "can't possibly afford" to pay for services - until their friends, network contacts, and family members are providing them as a business - but like to show their generosity and social engagement by publicly donating to well-regarded, prominent charities in some way, and the British public like to console themselves that the "lower taxes" they insist on every election are an entirely reasonable demand, because the voluntary sector will just mop up all the various socioecono...