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San Diego, CA, 2020: In celebration of the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ show Severance, fans at San Diego ... More Comic-Con got to experience their first day of work at Lumon Industries. Being able to separate work from the rest of our life is, of course, the stuff of fiction. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
In the hit Apple TV show Severance, employees at a biotech firm must undergo the eponymous medical procedure. This is the implanting of a device in their brain to ensure they retain no memories of the outside world while at work and no recollection of their job once they leave.
It is a procedure that enables them to live two parallel but very separate lives; one life exists in the outside world with the other only existing in their workplace, with neither mind able to access the other. Not surprisingly, it’s a controversial scheme to horrified onlookers in the show, who see it as inhumane and unnatural.
Of course it’s unnatural. It is quite impossible to make the separation from work and the rest of our lives. The reality is that we must somehow integrate work with everything else. It is why the employer-employee contract is changing. People are expecting their employer to look after their whole self. That is, treat me as a human being, not human capital.
And this is happening against a backdrop of burnout, of stress and of absence from work. More and more people, teams and organizations are challenged in the working environment by issues with wellbeing.
Why are we seeing this? In part, it is the unintended consequence of organizations’ increased focus on employee wellbeing and care over the last decade. No longer must you leave your problems at the reception door; you are more than expected now to bring your whole self into work. This is both a gift and a problem for those trying to manage greater complexity in their teams.
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