To modern workers everywhere,
In what felt like a truly major achievement this summer, I managed to go on holiday.
This seemed all but impossible when the UK’s lockdown began in March. As London’s weather became almost mockingly gorgeous, its inhabitants watched from windows and ventured outside for walks around the block, dreaming of escape to the beach, a calm forest, anywhere. Panicky with the lack of ability to plan, I scoured the internet for information about holiday rules, seeking clues as to when travel restrictions might lift, what forms of transport were safe. Speculatively, I booked a holiday home in Cornwall, a lovely coastal limb of southwest England. The reservation got canceled the next day. I tried again and waited, knowing we’d likely lose money if the travel rules didn’t change.
For my family, the anxiety was worth it. The restrictions lifted, and we took our vacation. But for many, a lack of clarity about what travel is allowed or sensible is creating a whole extra flavor of stress—exactly what holidays are supposed to counteract.
Rules on physical travel differ widely from place to place, but there are principles that might help us get some of the benefits of holidays even without the traditional trip. Foremost is allowing ourselves—difficult though it might be in uncertain, high-pressure times—to actually book a stint off work. A true change of routine can make a big difference even when a change of place isn’t possible, and many of the things that make holidays glorious often can be available to us at home: exercise, reading great books, catching up on sleep, leisurely meals.
The fact is, holidays give us more than a rest. They’re a way to understand time: There’s a before and after, a structure to the year in which some seasons—for me, summer and Christmas—are waymarkers, helping us to understand where we are, and even how we’re doing.
Hopefully, this year is unique and the situation temporary, but that’s not a reason to run ourselves into the ground. Holiday however you safely can. The experience might even be a positive way to discover a new beauty spot near home, or a new skill: relaxing right where you are.—Cassie Werber
Five things we learned this week
A Cultural Revolution 2.0 is sweeping through Hong Kong’s workplaces.
A former student of “growth mindset” scholar Carol Dweck has identified a new mindset for success.
Even without an office, the culture of a workplace can be very distinctive.
Why bosses lose empathy as they advance.
Taunting regulators during antitrust hearings is not a good idea for CEOs.
30-second case study
Since 2005, Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook have acquired 385 other US companies, according to PitchBook. Alphabet alone has acquired 185. Albert Wenger, a managing partner at Union Square Ventures, has warned that the big tech companies have a “kill zone” around them, meaning startups that operate too closely to their businesses have no chance of success.
Economists at the University of Chicago explored the kill zone thesis in a working paper released in late 2019. They looked at nine acquisitions by Google and Facebook worth $500 million or more, and found that in the three years following the acquisitions, venture capital investment in startups competing with the acquired companies fell by 46%. In the paper, which has not been peer-reviewed, the researchers caution that their results are merely “suggestive”—the suggestion being that startup buyouts by tech giants can have a hidden deterrent effect on entrepreneurship and innovation.
The takeaway: As Quartz’s Walter Frick reports, massive acquisitions have made founders like Instagram’s Kevin Systrom or Whatsapp’s Jan Koum extremely rich, but big tech’s’ market power has likely doused the ambitions of countless other founders as well. Now that market power is getting scrutinized in Australia, Europe, and the US, where hearings scheduled for noon US eastern time today will see Apple’s Tim Cook, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg face the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee.
It’s a fact
Since the onset of Covid-19, emoji usage by Slack users is up around 80%, and the ❤️ (red heart) has eclipsed 🎉 (tada) as the most commonly used emoji on the messaging platform.
Remote workers are choosing more openly affectionate symbols during these months of separation from their colleagues, and more symbols in general to underscore the intended tone of messages. (Appending “Fine” with 😊 or 😠 certainly leaves less to interpretation, as Quartz design writer Anne Quito notes in her piece on how emoji usage has changed in the pandemic.)
A quick poll
What’s your overall take on using emoji with colleagues?
❤️❤️❤️ Couldn’t work without it
🤷🤷🏿♂️ 🤷♂️ Haven’t really tried it
And a quick poll recap
See how the results of last week’s poll sit with you.
+ Should your next home-office chair be an esports gaming chair? Consider the pros and cons ( ✦ Quartz membership exclusive).
✦ Special to Quartz members ✦
Caregiving professions involve difficult work, and often come with low pay and a lack of respect. That hasn’t scared off the purpose-driven millennials and Gen-Zers who spoke with us about why they’ve taken jobs serving elders, and why senior care offers the fulfilling, ethical work they were looking for. Here are some of their thoughts:
Ocean Le, 25: “I wanted to help the communities that represent my family and me.”
Nihal Satyadev, 25: “We have so many people who are getting older and not enough young people who are being born in this country. We need to get people to take care of our older adults, and to understand their needs.”
Sasha Syahirah Rouse, 29: “I want to see what successful aging means for older adults who aren’t the norm.”
Antonio Torres, 24: “We just talk. I help them with what they need and then we can just have a conversation, just about life and how things are going, and how they grew up.”
From studying the outcome of pairing younger adults with socially isolated older adults, to creating a youth movement against Alzheimer’s, discover how these young people are contributing to the reshaping of their industry. The story is part of Fixing Elder Care, our latest field guide for Quartz members.
Not a member yet? Get 50% off your first year of Quartz membership with our limited time offer. Just use the code SUMMERSALE. As a member you’ll get the context, analyses, and community that will guide you through what’s next for our changing world, this summer and beyond.
ICYMI
What constitutes an enlightened approach to work has changed a lot this year, which makes it all the more frustrating if your manager’s attitudes are stuck in the distant past. What can you do to spark a change and get a chance at more autonomy? Advice from best-selling business author Daniel Pink on coping with an unenlightened boss is as relevant today as it was when we met up with him in 2018. See what he was counseling back then in this gem from our archive.
Words of wisdom
“It’s not your responsibility to change a toxic culture. Instead, it’s your responsibility to keep trying new experiences to determine your preferences, as well as the non-negotiables that are crucial to your well-being at work.”—Bloomberg software engineer Alexandra “Dobs” Dobkins
+ Read Dobs’ article in Quartz at Work on the 10 questions she wishes she had asked prior employers before accepting a job.
You got The Memo!
Our best wishes for a productive and creative day. Please send any workplace news, comments, vacation plans, and meaningful emoji to work@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. This week’s edition of The Memo was produced by Heather Landy, Walter Frick, Jackie Bischof, and Sarah Todd.