What Works Tara McMullin

I'm teaching a new workshop on May 15 & 16, 2024! It's called World-Building for Business Owners, and it's based on a process I've been honing for more than a decade. I'll help you apply creative, even playful thinking to your business strategy—and help you create an internally consistent business that causes fewer headaches, meets your needs more efficiently, plays to your strengths, and creates satisfying work.
Click here for all the details or go to explorewhatworks.com/world


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"How do I want to live?" Philosopher Rahel Jaeggi says this question is bound up in the concept of alienation. Our disconnection and dissatisfaction keep us from answering that question—but they also keep us from asking it in the first place.
So in this episode, Kate, Charlie, and I ask that question—and five more. We examine how work in the creator economy can reinforce competition and individualism when what we really need is solidarity and collective action. If you're curious what you can do to join with others for your own success and theirs, this episode has some ideas.
Footnotes:
Kate Tyson: Whiskey Fridays (podcast), Wanderings (on Substack) and Wanderwell ConsultingCharlie Gilkey: Productive Flourishing and Better Team Habits"What the creator economy promises and what it actually does" by Kyla Chayka in The New Yorker"Surplus populations are all around us" by Tara McMullinAlienation by Rahel Jaeggi"Metrics, Incentives, and the Seduction of Clarity" by Tara McMullinCasey Newton on Decoder with Nilay Patel"Algorithms at Work" (algoactivism) by Katherine Kellogg, Melissa Valentine, and Angéle ChristinAs always, find an essay version of today's episode at whatworks.fyi
And speaking of the creator economy, if you appreciate the work I do, I'd be so grateful if you became a premium subscriber of What Works for just $7/month. Your support makes a world of difference when it comes to my ability to do this work.


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It seems the creator economy is booming. Or is it?
And what even is the creator economy??
Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TechTalk are quite happy to advertise the ways they support creators with features and advice. Their aspirational creator hubs give the distinct impression that becoming a creator is akin to getting paid to be yourself.
But that said, when Kate Tyson told me that she doesn’t think the creator economy should exist but that she couldn’t put that in writing, I told her she was wrong—about not being able to put that in writing. Turns out, our mutual friend Charlie Gilkey had told her the same thing. So I arranged a meeting of the minds.
Today's episode is Part 1 of 2 of that conversation. We get into who a creator is, how the creator economy really works, why we value what we value, and how platforms distort the market for our creative work.
Footnotes:
Kate Tyson: Whiskey Fridays (podcast), Wanderings (on Substack) and Wanderwell ConsultingCharlie Gilkey: Productive Flourishing and Better Team Habits"Millions work as content creators. In official records, they barely exist." by Taylor Lorenz and Drew Harwell on The Washington Post"Digital sharecropping" by Nicholas Carr"Preferential attachment" via Wikipedia"You Gotta Be in it to Win It" by Collin BrookeCapital Is Dead: Is This Something Worse? by McKenzie Wark"'Wait, I think you're platform-pilled'" by Tara McMullinCory Doctorow on 'enshittification' and platforms being 'too big to care'The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour


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The labor market has undergone a sea change in the last 20 years. A full third of US workers are part of the independent workforce, including gig workers, contract workers, freelancers, and sole proprietors. And yet, key provisions in our labor regulations do not cover independent workers.
What's more, platform companies have further changed our idea of work. If you sell your labor on a platform, you're not an employee of the platform—you're an entrepreneur.
Well, those entrepreneurs are starting to ask questions. I am, too.
Today's episode examines one organization's attempt to organize the indie workforce. The Indie Sellers Guild formed in the wake of a strike action in April 2022 by 30,000 Etsy sellers. I spoke with executive director Chiarra Lohr about what they've been up to, the challenges they face, and the victories they've already celebrated.
Plus, you'll learn a bit about the history of working women's organizing in the US—starting back in the 1830s!
Footnotes:
Learn more about the Indie Sellers GuildWhat Works Ep 385: "Who do you work for?"The Lowell Offering by Benita EislerThe Voice of Industry digital archive"History & Culture" — Lowell National Historical ParkPlatform Capitalism by Nick SrincekMonopsony 101 via InvestopediaNational Labor Relations Act of 1935Check out the Indie Sellers Guild Convention

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The Center for Nonviolent Communication describes what they teach as "empathy in action." And so it seems fitting to close out this series on Decoding Empathy with a look at nonviolence, Nonviolent Communication, and making social spaces at work & beyond that work for more people.
I talked with Leonie Smith, founder of The Thoughtful Workplace, about how she uses the tools and practices of nonviolence to help individuals and teams feel more seen and understood.
Footnotes:
Find out more about Leonie Smith and The Thoughtful WorkplaceWatch the Ask Leonie video seriesThe Expulsion of the Other by Byung-Chul Han"Ahimsa" on WikipediaThe Center for Nonviolent Communication"The 'Magic' of Meeting in Person" by Devon PriceThe Notebooks of Simone Weil edited and translated by Arthur WillsRelated:
My conversation with Mara Glatzel on the economics of "neediness"My conversation with Charlie Gilkey about implied rules and better team habitsCheck out the full Decoding Empathy series!Every episode of What Works is also released in essay form at whatworks.fyi!



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I have learned a lot about cognitive empathy by learning copywriting. After all, copywriting is a puzzle—the puzzle of figuring out what someone is thinking or feeling and how you can connect your idea to that thought or feeling.
So, it seemed only fitting that I would invite a copywriter to this series on decoding empathy to share her process and give you a behind-the-scenes look at cognitive empathy in practical application. In this episode, I get real nerdy with Samantha Pollack, a positioning strategist and copywriter, and think about how the digital doppelgangers we create via our personal brands might help us get curious about who is behind others' digital doppelgangers.
Footnotes:
Find out more about Samantha Pollack and Cult of PersonalityDoppelganger by Naomi Klein"The Politics of Recognition" by Charles Taylor in MulticulturalismFind every essay and episode in the Decoding Empathy series.
Every episode of What Works is also released in essay form at whatworks.fyi!


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