The “Zero Fucks Given” Approach To Work

The New Normal, post-COVID.

This one might be a tricky line to walk, but let’s nonetheless try to walk it. We’re going to talk about a “zero fucks given” approach to your professional existence. You’ve probably heard of the various memes around “zero fucks given;” there’s even a site around it. I believe the whole concept can be applied to work, but probably not in the way you think. I’m not actually going to argue that you should do a bad job or slack off. I fully realize that many of us deeply connect our self-worth to our work, and that’s probably even more true for the Type-A workaholic class. (Of which there are many.) Many of us want to be seen as relevant and competent by our co-workers. Slacking off in the “zero fucks given” context won’t get us there. But there’s a bouncing ball we can follow.

Let’s start with a “zero fucks given” video

This is from Gary Vee, who is more famous than I am. It’s about “The ROI of not giving a fuck.” Here you go:

You can watch the whole clip, but the basic deal here is this. Gary Vee is saying “zero fucks given” means “worrying less” and “worrying less” subsequently means “speed,” i.e. executing while others are dawdling. If speed is the name of the game — many managers do believe this — then zero fucks given could work as an approach.

The quantity — quality argument

Been banging this drum for years. I’ve met a few people who agree with me, but probably most still do not. This is what I mean: because many of us confuse “busy” and “productive,” what happens a lot is that we overemphasize the quantity of work we have on our plate. Go find a random person in your office. Ask them: “How are things?” 9 out of 10 people will say “So busy!” or “Slammed!” That’s the culture of most offices.

Example B: consider two different projects you could submit to your boss. Let’s say one is of higher quality but the process check boxes along the way were a little iffy. The other project is of lower quality but every “process for the sake of process” moment was followed. Which project is your boss happier with? In many cases, it’s the lower quality one. Why? Because to a lot of people, work is about controlling processes and situations — and not really about doing the best work possible.

In such a setup, it’s easier to move towards zero fucks given.

The priority argument