Non-fiction
We're a Family Here
And other lies the office tells you
A clear-eyed, funny book about the language work uses to keep you agreeable; and what to say instead.
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About the book
About the book
Every workplace has a vocabulary: family, culture fit, we're all wearing many hats, we're like a family here. The words are warm. The arrangement they describe usually is not.
We're a Family Here takes that vocabulary apart phrase by phrase; what each one is really asking for, what it costs to accept it, and how to negotiate in plain language without becoming the difficult one.
Why I wrote it
Why I wrote it
I kept hearing the same eight sentences in the same tone in very different offices. This book is what I wish someone had translated for me at twenty-four.
Inside
What you'll find inside
- 01A glossary of office phrases and what they actually mean
- 02Scripts for pay, scope and boundary conversations
- 03Notes on loyalty, and where it belongs
Excerpt
An excerpt
No family has ever asked you to sign a mutual non-disparagement clause. That is the tell.
Warmth is not the problem. Warmth used as a substitute for terms is the problem.
Reader notes
We're a Family Here is an incisive examination of the language organizations use to make work feel personal; and the things that language can quietly conceal.
Zoe Afful
Administrator
Author's note
Nothing here is bitter. It is simply accurate, which reads as bitter at first.
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