What Do You Belong To?
Whose signature does the work you do carry?
It’s been a busy week, and I’m running just a little behind. I had drafted a post, and then this popped up in my mail as I started early, enjoying a beautiful morning, getting into a rhythm. I always read Gaping Void; they are thoughtful, provocative, and make me smile.
I differ a little on this one. Work is not your signature unless it expresses who you are, not just what you are. John the Baker tells me what you do, but not how you do it. For many, if not most, work is a label that defines us on other people’s terms. Perceived status, salary, possessions, and where we live.
At one point, early in my work life, I had to sign, verify and sign cheques, often for large amounts. There could be hundreds, sometimes, more than a thousand in a day, and I was allowed to have a signature stamp made, a (then} equivalent of a wax seal. I had a special safe to keep it in, and was not allowed, under any circumstances, to let anyone else use it. It saved me from RSI (before RSI was a thing) and gave consistency to my signature that would have been missing at the end of a day of handwritten ones.
Now, our work is similar. It is not ours, it is a facsimile, shaped and made consistent through processes and appraisals, and with similar levels of personality. Try as one might, wielding a signature stamp with a flourish is difficult. I know. Signing, preferably with a fountain pen, is a work of art, a statement of self, and an act of connection to whomever the document is intended for.
It reminds me of AI. All of the content, none of the personality or connection. It may be done in our name, but the dividing line of authorship is increasingly fine.
In the interests of efficiency, our work is not our signature; it is somebody else’s or something else’s, and I think that increasingly, we would rather not be associated with it.
Which begs the question, what is it that we do that we are prepared to put our name to?
Every Wednesday, a group of us gather on Zoom to consider the questions we face, and help each other tread our own paths. If you would like to join us, drop me a line.