What is your idea of something that is taboo? Women staying out late partying? Women staying out late partying in ‘revealing’ clothes? Boys and girls cozying up to each other on a park bench or on a metro? Within the corporate world, is the phrase ‘work-life balance’ taboo to think about or utter? Men wearing make-up? Heterosexual men wearing make-up? Self-love? People being infectiously self-confident despite their flaws? Divorce? Divorced people with no regret? Taboo is an argument sparking word.
As an idea, taboo flows like mercury when it’s at room temperature. It moves in the direction of changing mindsets and takes the shape of the times. Individuals and communities learn to navigate it, heating it to varying degrees. The debates on what is and is not taboo have always been under the influence of better awareness and exposure with each new generation. And yet, since time immemorial, taboo has always had a strong hold on culture and society. But, today something is happening that is diluting the intensity of the word. Taboo as a concept is slowly but surely being destroyed. If we call something taboo today, there is a likelihood of it being seen as a joke.
The preoccupation with taboo is being replaced with the idea of living our authentic selves without a care for judgment. No marks for guessing that the catalyst for this is the internet, information dissipation and social networks allowing for humans from across the globe to bypass gatekeepers and connect directly and share ideas. People are championing and supporting ideas that appeal to them outside rulebooks. We have men expressing their love for and tutoring us on how to use make-up. Women choosing to be athletic while sporting the otherwise restrictive saree. Lines separating gender and sexuality have melted. Conversations about personal inadequacies that every human faces but saw considered taboo to expose to the public are out in the open. Today, people are increasingly unafraid to bring their vulnerable sides to work. Even on professional networking platforms ideas of servant leadership, employee mental health, inclusivity, work-life balance etc are picking up. Within themselves, many companies continue to treat the word ‘balance’ like it’s a taboo word, but even they would hesitate to say they expect their employees to be on call beyond work hours and on holidays.
We are living in times where two universes are running alongside. One universe is populated with people who seek subtle ways of favouring casteism, gender bias, racial/ethnic stereotypes. ageism etc. Running parallel to it is the universe populated with people advocating mental health, balance, kindness, self-love and no judgements. Which universe will gain momentum in the years to come? The universe that rewards sacrificing personal time, health and space to massage the ego of demanding employers and clients? Or the universe that facilitates a balance between work, life and personal space? It will be interesting to see in the years to come.
The observation we have for now is that people who live their lives on their own terms and are doing it their way are no longer mere outliers. If we look inside organisations that are successful in terms of wealth creation and customer acquisition, we may still come across a lot of stress and active lack of empathy. What has changed is that it is no longer taboo to want and demand work-life balance. Every last employee is searching for this, no matter where they may be employed. And every employer is either getting busy trying to provide this or are scratching their heads as to how to counter this wave.
This wave, however absurd it may seem to some of us, is real. When we lift our heads from our work desks and look around, we find that bringing our vulnerabilities to work is acceptable and normal. Despite the resistance from people who discount mental vulnerabilities like it is something that can simply be ignored in order to carry on as usual.
What is the harm in ignoring these changes in mindset one may ask. Nothing except the loss of relevance. The value comes to the picture in cases where your success depends on widening your portfolio of clients beyond the like-minded pool you already work with and when aiming to deepen your connection with customers and customers of our clients. Surely, this also impacts hiring power to attract and more importantly retain a self-loving, confident younger workforce. Perhaps the biggest taboo today and in the years to come at least for brands and businesses will be ‘irrelevance’.
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