What’s up by Emanuele Rapisarda

In many conversations I recently had with colleagues and friends it emerged how in the world of work, we are accustomed to a language that penetrated in our most natural conversations, ending up being a language that is appreciated and sought after.
What are our targets?
Who is in charge of this division?
We have to conquer this market!
Everyone here fights their own battles. All these expressions, which are certainly not the only ones, derive from war jargon. And actually we manage our companies as if we are at war: we have competitors, we tend to accumulate and protect resources and information, we recruit people who respond to the hierarchy. All this brought consequences. We built organizations in which people feel constantly under pressure and where punishments generate fears that block every spark of creativity, workplaces where control is more important than passion. Looking at the ecosystem level, I see a wild use of natural and human resources, I see the waste of potential due to the non-sharing of information between different organizations, I see the endless bureaucracy in which we are caught up.
Ok, but what can we do?
Since we are talking about how language affects our actions, I want to put a word on the table: love. We should all have more love.
Try to go to work and instead of filling that document in a mechanical way put some love into it. When you meet a colleague, try to ask her how she is and ask her with love. When meeting a client, try to really listen to his needs, with love.
When you talk with a competitor, try to learn from each other, with love. It will not be easy at all, but I believe that the good things in life are the most difficult but not unpleasant for that. And love is perhaps among all things the most difficult and pleasant one at the same time.

This article was first published in our Cocooners N° 6