Work Products

I think about work products a lot.

Not productivity, per se, but the outputs of all those hours in the office.

Knowledge work in a corporate environment entails a heady mixture of politics, campaigning, and infighting. Sometimes, to stay sane, you need to focus on the work product and ignore all of the posturing. 

Templates and brand guidelines go a long way to making sure that these outputs look professional and cohesive. 

But are they any good?

Do you ever look at a work product from another part of your company and think, “Wow, this is fantastic stuff?” What if the reaction is the opposite? 

I have this nagging feeling that I should be routinely wowed by the work product of my colleagues.

But what if I’m not? Am I clouded by my own strange relationship to perfectionism? Or am I in the wrong environment?