frankwork

Everybody knows the adage “do what you love,” the problem is putting it into practice. While some people pursue their highly focused interests with determination, many others, often out a sense of caution, instead hedge their bets, trying to get well-rounded by forcing themselves to master many different disciplines and, in the process, sometimes forgetting exactly what they’re passionate about in the first place. That’s what makes this article, Working Life (High and Low), about the work culture at Patagonia, where employees can take two hours off in the middle of the day to surf, so refreshing. It’s a reminder that if you go pell-mell toward what you care about, as did founder and CEO Yves Chouinard, who’s passion for falconry led to a passion for mountain climbing (and the development of a stronger piton and the creation of an innovative an apparel company), you can end up with something very special indeed. But Patagonia is also an example of a company that puts a priority on its people. Compare this to FedEx (featured in the first part of the article), whose support for one its drivers led to termination when that driver was unable to run her route due to cancer, but whose CEO made more than $17 million in 2007. Back to Patagonia, which offers yoga and Pilates classes at lunchtime. What’s wrong with this picture?

Item #2 in today’s Times is the first-person essay I Waste People’s Time Online. How? Don’t Ask Me, in which an editor for CollegeHumor.com talks about his job and how items are selected for the site’s front-page. Does a balanced curriculum of physics, history, foreign language, and politics prepare you for this type of work? Maybe — but not necessarily. Perhaps a more interesting question (and if you are one of the handful of people reading this, please do weigh in with your answer), why exactly are we a culture that’s so eager to waste time online? (My answer has something to do with that first sentence of this post.)