upvote
I worked at a kitchen job one time. The place was, to use the tired phrase, full of toxic narcissists. People who didn't care about what was true, or good, but cared about shitting all over each other.

For example, in one case, the toilets were flooded, and they spent nearly an hour arguing about whose fault/responsibility it was. I snuck off quietly and solved the problem. (This offended them, presumably because then they couldn't bitch about it anymore!)

Anyway, I started keeping a list of complaints — all the ways that job violated my standards. At first, naively, thinking "surely if I show this to mgmt they will fix things!", and later, "ok, red flags list for next job."

At some point I realized I had actually created a spec for the perfect job, but with each term inverted:

Abusive assholes -> respectful colleagues

Total lack of process and communication -> a place that's actually functional and well thought out

Everyone hates their job -> people actually want to be there and enjoy what they're doing

Mindless drudgery -> creative and technical challenges

And so on. Amusingly, inverting the shitty kitchen job produced an almost exact description of VALVE corporation.

Anyway, I'm sure there's a term for this. Maybe "negative space"?

reply