Invisible work
The topic of invisible work has been coming up a lot lately.
Invisible work has been an undergirding principle of capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy since the beginning of time immemorial - and it is deeply embedded into every aspect of US history and the ongoing legacy of a country founded on slavery, genocide and colonization.
Of course, at the inception of this country, it wasn’t just invisible work, it was the violently coerced labor of chattel slavery without which this country could not have built a viable economy, infrastructure or culture.
That legacy lives on today - we no longer have slavery but we still have invisible work.
Disparately it is people of color, women, those of lower socio-economic status and caregivers who are doing invisible work, especially those at many or all of those intersections. And if seen at all, the work is often dismissed, devalued, under-compensated or uncompensated, uncredited, and very often weaponized against those doing it.
Those with power and privilege are deeply socialized to take credit and give blame. Or make harmful assumptions about where credit and blame fall. Or are not aware of where assumptions about credit and blame will fall.
At other times a deep commitment to the mission of an organization, project or initiative that results in voluntary invisible work is viewed as “negative” or “divisive” or ascribed to self-interest or some other motive. It is incredibly demoralizing, and knowing that it is systemic rather than personal doesn’t make it any less painful.
For women of color especially, to work so hard and still not be trusted brings up layers of trauma from a lifetime of similar experiences.
Sometimes it’s being hired for a job and then punished for taking the intention at face value and actually doing it.
Sometimes it’s being penalized for being too successful - that upsets the racial and patriarchal order of things.
Sometimes it’s about being criticized for being “too emotional” or "too angry" or "too negative" in response to poor treatment.
I’ve been listening to the new book version of the 1619 Project. It’s giving me a very visceral sense of the direct line between workplace and social dynamics and the culture and practices of chattel slavery. The hierarchy, the surveillance, the power, the control, the violence - it all has historical roots and it is all well and alive today.
As Nikole Hannah-Jones says in the preface to the 1619 Project: "slavery and its legacy have profoundly shaped modern American life, even as that influence had been shrouded or discounted."
Understanding the history of this country makes visible the invisible - and not just what is invisible about the past, but what is invisible about the present.
For those of us who are socialized to do invisible work, we have to understand why it is that we continue to do it. Sometimes it's for acceptance, value, belonging, and worth. Sometimes it's for safety. Sometimes we don't even think about it or realize we are doing, so deeply have we internalized the systemic power dynamics.
Being complicit in our own oppression is not the way to do DEI work though. It shouldn't be at personal, emotional and financial cost to, in my case, a team of primarily women of color. It's a little shocking to me, to be honest, how much I am still part of this pattern.
I've long said that we need to make our work visible at least to ourselves.
My team often ends up doing invisible work because we see a need and to leave it unmet could cause more harm. And often there is no budget for it, so we take it on voluntarily. We do this to ourselves!
But what I'm realizing we need to do instead is make visible the need and have a collaborative discussion with our clients to decide how that need should be met, whether by us (visibly and with compensation) or by them internally, or a combination of both... or if they choose to leave the need unmet, we have been clear about possible consequences.
Where in your life are you doing invisible work? Where in your company or organization or on your team is there invisible work? What would it take to make that work visible, recognized, visible and appropriately compensated for?
Banner photo by Max Harlynking on Unsplash
Self-coaching for DEI Advocates and Leaders
Join me for a free weekly email series and check-in on co-creating real and lasting shifts towards diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism at your company or organization. Sign up here.