Business Evolutionist: I Hate Fridays...

Really, I do.

I hate it from the minute I walk in the door in the morning. It really is no different from any other day of the week, but somehow people treat it different.

It is as if people have been given permission to voice how much they hate their jobs.

"Thank god it's Friday."

That statement is so ingrained in peoples mind, I think they say it without even thinking about it. But whenever someone says it, I'll always ask, because I have to; "big plans for the weekend?".

The answer is almost always the same... "nope."

Sigh.

Several years ago I ran across an an article in 'The Industry Standard', "Thank God It's Monday" by Carl Steadman. I xeroxed the article (I can't seem to find it online now) and hung it up in my cube when I was working for Hershey's. The title "TGIM" was in big bold letters... and it was way to let people know what types of conversations I would be interested in having... if you want to complain about the fact that you don't like your job, feel free, but I'm not going to pay much attention or have much sympathy - gee, I hope that doesn't make me sound cold-hearted... anyway...

Most organizations sanction this mind set by letting people dress differently: Casual Fridays, where folks are allowed to wear jeans. I think this sends the wrong message. I think organizations should let people wear jeans all week, unless they are going to deal with customers... but I digress...

"Thank god it's Friday."

I know, a long week - a need to blow off steam, I've been there myself... plenty of times. I've even said it before... T.G.I.F. But do you think that is the case for most people? No. You can tell from the inflection in peoples voices whether or not they've had a long, stressful week.

In most of these peoples minds Friday is the last remaining barrier to freedom. Freedom from a dull existence. But is it really? It's not as if two days off is some magical cure that will make things all better. No, there is something bigger at play here. And it is something so simple and obvious. They're in the wrong jobs. No amount of money spent on motivational tools or lectures is going to change the simple fact that you can't put, say, a creative person in a job that doesn't let them be creative and expect them to produce for very long.