Apple TV’s Severance gave us the most haunting metaphor for the modern workplace: a world where we literally split our brains to keep our personal lives away from our professional ones. We enter the elevator, put on our mask, and forget who we are until 5:00 PM.
The most radical moment in the show however isn’t the sci-fi twist, it’s a book.
The Rickey Effect: Reclaiming Identity
In the show, a character named Rickey writes a hilariously pretentious self-help book titled The You You Are. To the outside world, it’s fluff. But to Mark and his 'innie' team who are starved of any sense of self, it's a manifesto.
Why does it impact Mark so deeply? Because it’s the first time he’s told that he is more than his output. It reminds him that he has a full, multi-faceted self that exists outside the confines of the windowless Lumon Industries basement. It’s the catalyst for his rebellion.
Severance in the Real World
We might not have chips in our brains, but the current career landscape severs us every day:
- The Resume Box: We are taught to hide our sabbaticals, side-hustles, and outside the 9-to-5 interests and skill sets.
- The 50% Quiet Quit: Half the workforce is “quiet quitting”. Could it be because our 'innie' selves are feeling disengaged and disconnected from our 'outie' selfs?
- The Noise of Performance: Platforms like LinkedIn force us to showcase a version of ourselves that feels as sterile and bland as a Lumon hallway.
oyster: The Antidote to the Severed Career
At oyster, we believe that “The You You Are” is your greatest asset. We’ve designed a platform that integrates your whole identity rather than splitting it.
- Share your full human profile, beyond the resume: Whether you’re a Marketer who is also a woodworker, or an Accountant who is passionate about robotics, we enable you to flex all of your career experiences, projects, side ventures, hobbies, interests, and skill sets on your profile. Also available to share: where you are from, fun prompts (e.g. dream job as a kid), books you are reading, podcasts you are listening to, images of your work in action, and more.
- Peer-to-peer guidance vs. top-down advice: While the Lumon office is riddled with performative dynamics and micro-managing managers, oyster thrives on exploratory and candid peer-peer guidance. Here, every user acts as both an explorer (because 71% of us are always open to new opportunities) and a guide, sharing the 'pearls' or insights of their unique career paths to help others validate career moves that pay the bills without costing them their souls.
- Find your career village with pods: Mark’s strength came from his team. oyster Pods are micro-communities of peers who help you navigate your niche career community of “Early Career | Behavioral Therapists’” or the transition into “Independent Professionalism,” ensuring you never have to navigate the world of work alone.
The Bottom Line
The future of work belongs to the dynamic human, the one who brings their hobbies, their breadth of experiences, multi-faceted skill sets and interests, and unique zig-zag career path to the table.
You don’t fit in a box, so why should your career? It’s time to stop the performance and embrace the non-linear journey. Join us at oyster, and let the You You Are actually be.
Sign up for oyster today:
