Protecting Oneself In The Workplace

As technology makes communication methods like phone calls more convenient, they have become more prominent in the workplace, where they might be intentionally used in such a way that workers are denied written records of invasive, dehumanizing, or generally irrationalistic comments.  Just because an employer or manager uses a phone call to convey an idiotic statement does not mean that they are attempting to forgo written communication to deny what they said, but having a phone call instead of sending an email or text to an employee nonetheless does not leave a trail of writing that can be pointed to later on.  This can leave workers forgetful of tasks or, even worse, victims of unrecorded abuse.

There is a way to still guard against intentional oppression or even misunderstandings and non-malicious stupidity, however, even if an employer fallaciously reveres phone calls over written contact: every time they have a meeting or phone call and say something irrational or unjust, send them an email to summarize whatever they said and to ask for clarification.  This can also be worded as if the sender is merely trying to be most efficient in carrying out the wishes from higher positions on the company hierarchy, or as if they only want to dispell genuine ambiguity (of course, all communication has some ambiguity, but a great deal of it can be eliminated).  This provides a chance for the employer or manager to clarify what they really mean if there was miscommunication on their part, but it also provides the worker with the chance to put in writing what the actual request, demand, or comment was.

If it was something degrading or otherwise oppressive, the employer/manager might relent or at least try to make what they said or did sound less severe.  They might trivialize what they said or ignore the whole email, or they might commit even further to expressing their stupidity.  Either way, this gives them the opportunity to deescalate or escalate a situation.  In certain cases, a micromanaging, discriminatory, or otherwise irrational employer might relent from whatever demands they had made, even if only because they discovered how stupid or cruel they will appear to others if the email was to come to the attention of others--and blind or courtesy copying yourself on such emails is a further protective measure so you can access them apart from company equipment or email.

This can be a very effective kind of manipulation, a manipulation that is not itself cruel, arrogant, or dishonest; it is the kind of manipulation I have written about before that rationalists are free to direct towards non-rationalists and that has both pragmatic and moral benefits.  Perhaps a non-rationalist manager actually will realize how asinine or oppressive their approach to their subordinates is after reading the email, not that this is probable given how pathetic most non-rationalists are.  At least the rationalist can still be a thorn in the side of a fool without mistreating them in any way by simply sending a summary email on every occasion where it is helpful.

Protecting oneself in the workplace without mistreating anyone, including those with higher authority, is not a selfish thing.  Since workplace exploitation so deeply permeates countries like America, truths like this and strategies for navigating the hellscape of many careers need to be grasped by many workers.  If everyone knows these things, not only will the truth be more acknowledged, but the workers of a country like America also have a better likelihood of shifting corporate cultures to more worker-friendly environments.  Instead of individual victories within cruel businesses, general victories could become more and more commonplace.