Final Draft – Project Three: The Philosophy of Refusal

Longyang Yu

University of Connecticut

Final Draft – Project Three: The Philosophy of Refusal

Productivity is an important aspect of life. It defines the efficiency with which work is done in an attempt to meet set goals. Work is only vaguely defined in today’s workplaces or organizations within which employees operate. This means that there lacks some clarity when it comes to what work ought to be, especially in consideration of a capitalist society that sees things only as black or white. Work, however, falls within a wide spectrum ranging between white and black, meaning that grey falls in between the spectrum but two important aspects to note for work to have meaning are creativity and productivity. Odell (2019) and Frayne (2015) will help curve out a better understanding of what work should be in light of productivity and creativity. Their conversation on productivity can help expand our understanding of what work should be. It is important to note that productivity comes in various forms, and it is further important to note that there are various aspects considered before anyone commits their time and resources to working in their productive area. As much as it is considered important, work is not the only thing that people engage in to make their lives productive, sensible, and meaningful. Productivity is also needed in self-development for full self-satisfaction. There is an economic and a social aspect to life. The efficiency applied in goal realization in the social and economic aspects helps give a better meaning to productivity, thus a better meaning to life. This efficiency is made possible through creativity.

Creativity may come in the form of emotional, spontaneous, cognitive, and deliberate aspects where such moves as training, outsourcing, diversification, improvements, and collaboration may lead to idea evolution, a change in direction, and revolution (Types of Creativity: Descriptions & Examples, 2019; Benz, n.d.; Harris, 2002). These aspects influence a person’s level of productivity. This then gives an understanding of what work (in form of productivity) ought to be. Frayne (2015) explains this in a better way when he shares, “…but they did propose that a reduction of work might leave people with more time and energy for their own self-development.” The author provides details about social critics sharing their concerns on limited social progress with regard to an imbalance in work and free-time for workers, where the social wellbeing of employees suffers as a result. In light of today’s workplace, there are a lot of work pressures with little or no room for expression of any frustrations, exhaustion, or stress. This creates no room for creativity if the mind is only hooked on meeting deadlines and spending more time at work to be able to meet obligations.

Creativity, and thus productivity, is greatly taking a beating as governments and organizations insist on the importance of realizing the GDP growth and company goals, with life satisfaction and economic growth being treated as the same. Purely economically-driven activities are only leading in one direction, as Frayne (2015) identifies, “consider the woeful failure of today’s labor market to keep pace with the desire for jobs that allow for self expression and creativity.” They are a hindrance for creativity, thus a hindrance to productivity. This clearly shows that there is an imbalance between people’s wants and what is made available, leaving little room for creativity to thrive (Anderson, 2016). It only goes to show that people’s drive is hooked on economic goals, with little time and a few resources to invest in what is actually productive. The issue lies in the foundations of the organizations and governments advocating for this kind of life. A view of work that only leaves people less productive can be said to be a poor version of what it ought to be. Work should be a motivation for people to pursue their goals boldly and in a satisfactory way. There ought to be open-mindedness in the way work and social life balances for creativity to thrive, thus leading to productivity. Work, according to Frayne (2015) can be no work at all, freelancing, or part-time jobs. In our understanding of work, productivity can already be seen present in the economic and social life of human beings.

Productivity will be based on how much creativity a person has, but it will be hindered by lack of freedom of the mind and the resources available. This basically emphasizes on the importance of putting creative minds in the best environment to thrive, both economically and socially. This is in form of allowing the pursuance of interests and passions in view of taking part-time jobs, freelancing, and any other productive activities that are satisfying to a person. In this regard, therefore, productivity ought to be engaging the creative mind fully in an economic and social balance. This is basically putting people’s creative skills to the best use, therefore, from Frayne’s (2015) frame of mind, work covers the social and economic aspects of human life, carried out efficiently for goal realization. It is clear that what work should be is not limited to what a few individuals think, but can be what satisfies one as they pursue their social wellbeing.

Further still, we can pick out Odell’s (2019) version of what work ought to be in light of productivity as a continuation from Frayne’s (2015) standpoint. She gives details on the importance of detaching from the distraction that work, technology, and other forms of the attention economy bring as a means of basically finding the creative self in human beings, thus widening the definition of productivity. In short, the focus of the author is identification of the continuous distraction by technology, specifically the likes of social media, which cannot be considered as productivity. Productivity, as defined earlier, is the efficiency with which work is efficiently done to meet set goals. Work is defined as activities that people engage in and from which results are expected. We can pick out the motivation that the author has in shifting the attention of these beings from the mere distractions to productive activities, even as simple as “bird watching” (Odell, 2019). Nature has a way of bringing out the creative streak in a person. It is one of the many ways through which humans get to realize their potential, thus bearing productivity. Attention or attentiveness leads the way to creativity due to the focus put into ideas.

“…I don’t mean this to be a retreat or a mere treatise to creativity. The point of doing nothing, as I define it, isn’t to return to work refreshed and ready to be more productive, but rather to question what we currently perceive as productive,” details Odell’s (2019) view of productivity and a brief pointing out of where creativity comes in. The author tries to pick the brain of the reader by leading their minds to question what productivity really is to help with its understanding. “Nothing” in this case means how people with the capitalist productivity mindset view every other activity that people invest in as unimportant. On this note, therefore, Odell (2019) shifts her readers’ minds away from the attention economy and to a social or ecological perspective of productivity that focuses on investment in the public as opposed to investment in technologies.

From this, we pick out that productivity thrives best in a social or ecological aspect, and is coupled with freedom. Freedom in whichever setting yields creativity, especially in consideration of the operation of capitalism contracting the minds of workers. People are able to break away from the capital productive norms that are binding to a freedom in what they find productive (efficient in resource investment) and satisfying, and in the author’s frame of mind: away from distracting technologies. Looking at this point, people are more productive when not held down by capitalist productivity mindsets but by a mindset that drives their creativity, and one that awakens their productivity senses. In this regard, what is considered productivity today is just but a distraction of productivity itself. Productivity only thrives where creativity thrives. The lives of people in today’s workplace are lacking sustainable meaning in activities that they invest in due to just delivering on the bare minimum, thus failing to use up their potential to the best they can and in a manner that would allow their productivity to thrive (Cannarito, 2019). Their definition of work fails to enable them meet their productivity needs, with little left to offer on their quest for creativity. Efficiency and value easily describe what constitutes productivity, thus creativity, but this is far from what is on the ground. More productivity is yielded from a higher investment in the effective use of technology and even in activities that would otherwise be considered as domestic. In this regard, the author gives meaning to productivity; therefore work, in the social and ecological realm, that is, care for self and surroundings. This further widens our understanding of what work ought to be.

Odell (2019) and Frayne (2015) have done an impeccable job at identifying what work ought to look like in light of productivity and creativity with a look at the creativity draining ability of capitalism productivity. The ideas of these authors meet at the point of creativity. Odell (2019) pushes for the need of productivity (read creativity) to arise from the effective use of technology while putting to rest the motivations, such as commercial social media (Odell, 2019), behind the technology available. This is further when Odell (2019) shares that in-person conversations are no longer as informative and contextual as they ought to be, as a result of the convenience that technology provides, especially in light of ease in connectivity. The in-person conversations are what enable the engagement of creative minds to give creative solutions to arising problems. Frayne (2015) pushes for the need of productivity to go beyond the workplace. He is simply advocating for the importance of seeking productivity through engaging in what satisfies people, in whatever form, such as through freelancing and part-time jobs. These may be ways of realizing one’s creative potential easily, without having deadlines and work pressure straining the creative thought processes of high potential people.

Most importantly, in trying to provide detail on how the productivity conversation between Odell (2019) and Frayne (2015) can expand on what work should be, the authors have given a detailed view of their thoughts. In this regard, we deduce that indeed work is mainly meant to bring meaning to the owner and more so in the aspect of satisfactory sustenance (economic aspect), social aspect (looking at one’s social wellbeing), and ecological aspect (care for one’s physical surroundings). The definition of work can widen further as long as productivity from activities is present as well as satisfaction to the owner. On this note, therefore, the authors clearly clarify and help expand the material on creativity as a means of productivity through use of evidence from their writings, thus bringing a clear understanding to work. They give an idea about what creativity looks like today in the context of the work environment and attention economy, and what it ought to look like for productivity to be sensible and realistic.

References

Anderson, R. (2016, Aug. 24). ‘The Refusal Of Work’. Impakter. https://impakter.com/book-review-refusal-work/Benz, M. (N.D.). 29 Tips by Award-Winning Companies. Filestage. https://filestage.io/blog/29-tips-award-winning-companies-increase-creativity-workplace/Cannariato, N. (2019, Mar 10). Our devices steal our attention. We need to take it back. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/our-devices-steal-our-attention-we-need-to-take-it-back/2019/05/10/2a5228a6-41b5-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.htmlFrayne, D. (2015). The refusal of work: The theory and practice of resistance to work. Zed Books Ltd..

Harris, R. (2002, Jan 5). Creative Thinking Techniques. VirtualSalt. https://www.virtualsalt.com/crebook2.htmOdell, J. (2019). How to do nothing: Resisting the attention economy. Melville House.

Types of Creativity: Descriptions & Examples. (2019, March 19). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/types-of-creativity-descriptions-examples.html.