The punch and beauty of garbage time
Reading a favourite newsletter last week, I stumbled on a quote from an interview with comedian Jerry Seinfeld, questioning the idea of “quality time” with his kids.
He says, “I’m a believer in the ordinary and the mundane. These guys that talk about “quality time” — I always find that a little sad when they say, “We have quality time.” I don’t want quality time. I want the garbage time. That’s what I like. You just see them in their room reading a comic book and you get to kind of watch that for a minute, or [having] a bowl of Cheerios at 11 o’clock at night when they’re not even supposed to be up. The garbage, that’s what I love.
Replace ‘garbage’ with unheroic then transport mundane activities from the home to the workplace, and it’s a good summary of what I call unheroic work.
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Every week I see heroic ideas, big splashy stuff and attention-seeking activity touted as essential brand fodder. So, I take any opportunity to explore the hidden and under-appreciated impact of what Jerry called ‘garbage time’.
It’s something every organisation should seek out. Gaze upon those who tout their cult-like cultures, and you’ll find no shortage of garbage moments.
The service rep engages in some Star Wars banter. A salesperson irons a shirt for a customer going to a funeral. A colleague bakes a cake to surprise a coworker on their birthday. A warehouse manager replaces a lost and much-loved scarf. A group logs onto Teams after-hours, keeping a coworker company while they meet a deadline. A CEO works the airport counter and checks in travellers’ bags.
I could fill pages with seemingly isolated unheroic acts. Yet, when tallied across people’s day-to-day activity, they pack a punch. Each moment carries value that compounds, spilling into others’ labour. Until unnoticed and unremarked things start to shift and align.
The Star Wars banter goes viral encouraging others to loosen up. The shirt buyer tells friends about the act of kindness and some of them decide to shop there. The cake-baker inspires others to celebrate more.
Like Jerry, I’m a fan of replacing buzzy, grand quality with mundane moments. Yet, in the barrage of activity that marks most days, it’s easy for louder, shiny things to overpower beautiful, small stuff.
And when the 90% of activity that makes up your days slides into obscurity it’s easy to lose touch and convince yourself that the eventful endeavours are all that matter. They’re not.
So, give me your ‘garbage time’. Because while heroic efforts might get you headlines, only unheroic work will achieve a brand loaded with value you can use to do more work.
See you next time,
Michel
