10 — Extreme Contracts, B*llshit Jobs, and Bureucracy — Why Your Job Feels So Pointless cover art

10 — Extreme Contracts, B*llshit Jobs, and Bureucracy — Why Your Job Feels So Pointless

10 — Extreme Contracts, B*llshit Jobs, and Bureucracy — Why Your Job Feels So Pointless

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 If you've ever sat at your desk wondering whether your job actually needs to exist, you're not alone — and you're not wrong. A UK poll found that nearly 40% of full-time workers feel exactly the same way.

This episode brings together two unlikely allies: anthropologist David Graeber, whose work on bullshit jobs and bureaucratic systems revealed the hidden feudal logic of the modern office, and Jacopo Romei, whose Extreme Contracts framework offers a practical way out.

Together, they help us understand why knowledge work is still governed by 19th-century industrial rules — from the theological roots of "time equals virtue" to the structural risk trap of selling hours instead of outcomes.

The second half is all agency. We walk through BATNA mapping, identifying the real decision-makers (Talk to the Grinder), reframing your contributions around impact, and proposing low-risk experiments to expand your autonomy one project at a time. No desk-flipping required — just a clearer view of the game and better tools to play it.

Extreme Contracts is a framework for negotiation and collaboration in knowledge work, by Jacopo Romei.

Learn more: extremecontracts.com
About Jacopo: jacoporomei.com

This episode includes AI-generated content.
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