Agency Launches New Internal Slack Channel Devoted to Passive-Aggressive Praise
In a bold move towards radical transparency and subtle warfare, Wellington-based creative agency Bother & Sons has unveiled a new Slack channel titled #crushing-it-but-make-it-weird. According to the agency’s founder and self-appointed Chief Culture Enabler, the channel is designed to “amplify workplace recognition while cultivating a low-key atmosphere of existential dread.”
The rollout comes after a three-week internal audit, which discovered that 87 percent of employee praise at the agency included the phrase “actually did a good job.” The new channel allows staff to acknowledge wins such as “Tony sent an email that had punctuation” or “Simone didn’t leave 23 comments on this deck, just 19.”
Early adopters have embraced the platform with giddy restraint. One designer posted, “Shout-out to Liam for remembering to send that file he promised last Monday. Real growth.” Another thanked the lunchroom utensils for “finally returning from their mysterious pilgrimage to the third-floor sink.”
Bother & Sons says it is already developing adjacent concepts, including #loudly-listening—a channel where staff can post photos of themselves nodding on Zoom with captions like “valid point” and “love that for you.” Pilots have begun for other experiments in empathy theatre, including a shared doc titled ‘Team Wins That Aren’t About Me But I’m Graciously Mentioning Anyway.’
PR experts describe the initiative as “deeply unhinged, and therefore very now.”
The rollout comes after a three-week internal audit, which discovered that 87 percent of employee praise at the agency included the phrase “actually did a good job.” The new channel allows staff to acknowledge wins such as “Tony sent an email that had punctuation” or “Simone didn’t leave 23 comments on this deck, just 19.”
Early adopters have embraced the platform with giddy restraint. One designer posted, “Shout-out to Liam for remembering to send that file he promised last Monday. Real growth.” Another thanked the lunchroom utensils for “finally returning from their mysterious pilgrimage to the third-floor sink.”
Bother & Sons says it is already developing adjacent concepts, including #loudly-listening—a channel where staff can post photos of themselves nodding on Zoom with captions like “valid point” and “love that for you.” Pilots have begun for other experiments in empathy theatre, including a shared doc titled ‘Team Wins That Aren’t About Me But I’m Graciously Mentioning Anyway.’
PR experts describe the initiative as “deeply unhinged, and therefore very now.”