Getting Drunk off Our Own Kegerators

I recently read a blog post where a woman swore off alcohol, dairy and excessive excercise for four months. Cold turkey, all at the same time.

She realized they were all things she was using to “take the edge off” and wanted to see how sustainable her life would be if she stopped relying on them.

She wound up quitting her job, then breaking up with her boyfriend.

Little comforts cover for quite a lot.

In the startup world, there are perks we consider standard that not many employees in other industries would even ask for.

Catered lunches. Gym memberships. Xboxes and foosball tables. “Paid paid” vacation. Kegerators, and when we get sick of those, company happy hours.

We’re very fortunate. We’re also coddled.

I wonder what would happen if a startup took that woman’s approach - cut out all the comfort crutches and took a hard look at what life was like with all the extras removed.

Would employees leave? If so, which ones? Were they in it for the right reasons to begin with? Would it become harder to recruit their replacements, or only harder to recruit the wrong ones?

What if we simply asked employees to show up, roll up their sleeves and perform to the highest of their capabilities, with nothing but a competitive salary & the satisfaction of seeing their impact on society to show for it?

Would the company’s cause alone be enough to attract top talent?

If it wasn’t, what would that say about the cause?

Fin

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