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I've been thinking a lot about The Discourse on remoteness and why folks have such strong emotional reactions whenever it comes around. And you know me, I'm always like "can BICEPS/what we know about amygdalas apply to this?" (basically always yes) https://www.palomamedina.com/biceps
When one of these six core needs feels threatened, our amygdala wakes up, fight/flight kicks in, our prefrontal cortex (rational, logical thinking) goes on standby.
I'm seeing this happen SO MUCH in the threads on remoteness! And I'm noticing it in my own body, too!
I'm seeing this happen SO MUCH in the threads on remoteness! And I'm noticing it in my own body, too!
For ex.: when I see someone talking about the ability to work remotely as a privilege, my amygdala is like WHAT THE FUCK?? TIME TO FLIP TABLES! Because my Equality/Fairness core need gets triggered, thinking about the folks out there who have chronic illnesses and disabilities…
… for whom working remotely is not a privilege, it's a necessity!
It can be both! —but that's my prefrontal cortex (rational/logical part of the brain) talking. Not my amygdala. It's just REAL HARD to calm down and bring the PFC back online after our amygdala has been hijacked.
It can be both! —but that's my prefrontal cortex (rational/logical part of the brain) talking. Not my amygdala. It's just REAL HARD to calm down and bring the PFC back online after our amygdala has been hijacked.
And when we look at BICEPS individually, we see them ALL come up in the emotionally-charged responses:
Belonging: "Remote enables you to be forgotten"
Improvement/Progress: "Remote work can stifle your career growth"
Belonging: "Remote enables you to be forgotten"
Improvement/Progress: "Remote work can stifle your career growth"
Choice: "Don't force me to work remotely", "Don't force me to be in the office"
Equality/Fairness: see my earlier tweet re: chronic illnesses
Predictability: "a manager loses several of the inputs needed to judge a direct report’s output"
Equality/Fairness: see my earlier tweet re: chronic illnesses
Predictability: "a manager loses several of the inputs needed to judge a direct report’s output"
Significance: everything about invisibility and silos when working remotely
You can apply BICEPS to *any* side of the remote-or-not argument. I feel it, you feel it.
You can apply BICEPS to *any* side of the remote-or-not argument. I feel it, you feel it.
It's why these articles + responses often feel like they're ignoring each other. They're not speaking to the others' core needs. *We're* not speaking to the others' core needs.
Everybody has different needs + is making different tradeoffs. It feels real personal, because it is.
Everybody has different needs + is making different tradeoffs. It feels real personal, because it is.
To quote something @polotek said on this today: "It's hard to get people to hear that the grass is not greener once they've decided they want something."
Yep, it's near IMPOSSIBLE to get people to hear when their amygdala is in charge. Those 6 core needs are driving this.
Yep, it's near IMPOSSIBLE to get people to hear when their amygdala is in charge. Those 6 core needs are driving this.
