Issue #11 You say you want a revolution (Character Revolution that is)


The Work in Progmess Team

June 3, 2025

💌 From the Editor’s Desk

Welcome to this week’s Work In Progmess — where your network is only as strong as your ability to fake enthusiasm at coffee chats.

In this issue, you’ll discover:

  • How to tell if you're a networking ninja or a career criminal
  • Why Cornhole might be the next LinkedIn skill endorsement
  • What Extreme Ownership looks like when rebranded by people who blame Wi-Fi outages for missed deadlines
  • And how “soft skills” just became the new power suit

Read on, dodge the small talk, and maybe forward this to someone who sent a calendar invite before saying hello.

— The Mess

📊Messy Metric of the Week

56% of professionals say they’ve attended a networking event where they forgot everyone’s name within 10 minutes—
including the person they came with.
(Source: A LinkedIn survey, a half-finished name tag, and someone’s nervous laugh at a conference buffet.)

But here’s what’s real:
85% of jobs are filled through networking.
(Source: Zippia, aka people who did not send a cold DM that began with “quick question.”)

So if you remembered one name and used it in a sentence, congratulations—you just outperformed half the room.

📰Headline Shocker

The Character Revolution Has Begun.

Work In Progmess: Your weekly reminder that there’s no app for self-awareness.

AUSTIN, TX — In a stunning blow to the high-functioning, experts confirmed this week that human character—not productivity—has emerged as the ultimate competitive edge.

The shift, now being referred to as The Character Revolution (a term coined by organizational psychologist Adam Grant in Hidden Potential), has blindsided millions of professionals who thought empathy was optional and self-awareness was a hobby.

🗓️ Calendar Guy Cracks

“I’ve optimized every part of my life,” whispered Landon Marks, a well-branded “output strategist” who currently uses four different task apps and refers to his to-do list as “The Stack.”

“But yesterday someone asked how I was really doing. And I just…froze.”

Marks, like many, built his identity on efficient systems, asynchronous updates, and bragging about inbox zero. He’s now seeking emergency coaching after realizing “listening” requires more than waiting for your turn to talk.

📉 Hard Skills Flatline As Soft Skills Surge

Industry reports show a massive spike in demand for professionals who can:

  • Navigate disagreement without - per my last email
  • Apologize without calendar invites
  • Maintain eye contact during difficult conversations

One SaaS firm has replaced OKRs with Character KPIs, including:

  • Radical Candor-to-Cowardice Ratio
  • Empathy Latency (measured in seconds)
  • Self-Awareness Ping Rate
  • Percentage of Feedback Taken Without Crying or Tweeting

📈 Productivity Gurus in Freefall

“My entire personal brand was built on batching tasks and hydration habits,” sobbed one digital nomad who asked to remain anonymous. “Now companies are hiring people who can hold space? What even is that—an app?”

🧠 Work in Progmess Editorial Analysis

We’ve spent the last decade optimizing everything—our inboxes, our diets, our internal monologues. But somewhere along the way, we forgot how to be decent. Not efficient. Not impressive. Just…decent.

Turns out, no one’s looking for another time-blocked thought leader who treats collaboration like a calendar event.

They’re looking for someone who can do the hard stuff:

  • Admit they were wrong
  • Actually care about the people they work with
  • Handle silence without filling it with bullet points

The future isn’t about doing more. It’s about being better. Which, tragically for some, can’t be templated.

💡The Sports Page

🌽 SPORTS PAGE

From Backyard Fun to Beanbag Empire: When a Side Hustle Goes Pro

BY STAFF WRITER: LANE "LEFTY" METRICS

TULSA, OK — What started as a few innocent rounds of cornhole in a neighbor’s backyard has officially turned into a full-time lifestyle brand, four LLCs, and a collapsible tournament-grade board in the trunk of every car he owns.

Meet Dustin "Stacks" Harbinger, former HR analyst, now self-declared Cornholepreneur.

It began like most side hustles: casually. A few friendly matches. A logo scribbled on a napkin. Some weekend tournaments with names like “Bags & Brisket Bash.” But then came the merch. The TikTok. The unsolicited podcast sponsorship from an energy drink made of ginseng and regret.

“I never meant to turn it into a business,” said Harbinger, tightening his custom beanbag glove. “But people started asking if I had a brand. So I made one. Now I can’t stop.”

🏃‍♂️ When the Hobby Becomes the Hustle

Dustin’s story is familiar. You start with something fun. Casual. Relaxing. Then one friend says “You should totally monetize this,” and suddenly you’re three tax brackets deep in cornhole consulting for mid-sized breweries.

His daily calendar now includes:

  • 6:30 AM: Bag drills
  • 9:00 AM: “Mindset for Tossing” YouTube series
  • 2:00 PM: Zoom with corporate HR teams about team-building through competition
  • 8:00 PM: Live-streamed solo matches with motivational captions like “Bet on your bounce.”

🧠 Work in Progmess Editorial Analysis

Side hustles are great—until they become full-time jobs dressed in cool merch. What used to bring joy becomes another set of deliverables.

In the upcoming book (August 2025) The Business of You(shameless plug from the Work in Progmess Team), we ask: What’s worth scaling? Not every passion needs a strategy deck. Some things are better as a break, not a vertical.

Just because you're good at tossing bags doesn't mean you need a personal brand, a business card, and a fractional CFO.

🏁 Final Toss Standings

🥇 Dustin “Stacks” Harbinger – Made six figures and lost all his Saturdays

🥈 Casual Joy – Now locked behind a paywall and merch store

🥉 Dustin’s Day Job – Officially abandoned, but “open to consulting opportunities”

📉 Everyone Who Just Wanted to Chill – Now being coached in “competitive presence”

Some bags are best left unthrown. Or at least unmonetized.

🤝 Skills Assessment

Rate Your Networking Sins

A self-assessment scale to find out if you’re a connector, a collector, or a career criminal.

Instructions:

For each networking behavior below, give yourself the appropriate score:

  • ✅ 0 points – I would never. I am a walking informational interview.
  • 😬 1 point – Okay, I did that once… but I’ve grown.
  • 🔥 2 points – This is my entire networking strategy and I’m not sorry.

1. Sent a cold DM that began with “Can I pick your brain?”

2. Connected on LinkedIn with no message and then asked for a referral 14 seconds later

3. Followed up multiple times… without clarifying what you actually wanted

4. Wrote a thank-you message that read like a hostage letter from ChatGPT

5. Said “let me know how I can help” and then ghosted like a haunted Google Doc

6. Showed up to a coffee chat with zero questions,

7. Only network when you need something

8. Asked for someone’s advice and then never followed up

9. Used “networking” as a cover for trying to sell your ebook, your course, or your cousin’s Etsy shop

10. Sent a calendar invite before saying hello

Your Results:

🟢 0–4 Points: The Connector

You give more than you take. You’re the Ted Lasso of networking. Someone should endorse you for “human.”

🟡 5–10 Points: The Collector

You’ve got potential, but your networking game is a little like your sock drawer: functional, but chaotic.

🔴 11–20 Points: The Career Criminal

You may be entitled to provide compensation for damages caused to inboxes nationwide. It’s not too late to repent. Start by not saying “quick question” ever again.

🗞️ Unhinged Lists

Books We (Mis)Read So You Don't Have To (Part 2 of an un-numbered series)

Guest Contributor: Craig Anderson
Because even your bookshelf needs a comic relief episode.

Turns out, leadership wisdom ages like a banana in a briefcase. That’s why we’re back with more reimagined classics—slightly off, moderately unhelpful, and exactly what you didn’t know you were looking for.

1. Extreme OwnershipExempt Ownership

Tagline: Do as I say, not as I delegate.
Synopsis: In Exempt Ownership, you’ll discover the elite tactics used by corporate escape artists to look busy while doing very little. Learn how to pass the blame up, down, and sideways while maintaining an illusion of control. Includes strategic diagrams like “The Accountability Funnel” and a foreword by someone who absolutely was not responsible for the last quarterly miss. Also features a sticky note: “Do As I Say, Not As I Own.”


2. The Go-GiverThe Re-Giver

Tagline: The illusion of generosity, now with more strings attached.
Synopsis: In The Re-Giver, Rob Returns and John DeMand show you how to pass along exactly what you didn’t need in the first place—emotionally, professionally, and regiftedly. This pre-owned parable of passive generosity will teach you how to look selfless while quietly expecting something in return. Includes bonus chapter: “How to Appear Thoughtful Without Trying (Because You Didn’t).”


3. Turn the Ship Around!Run the Ship Aground!

Tagline: “You don’t need a map if you’re not planning to course-correct.” —Symon Cynic
Synopsis: Captain C. Driftwell (self-appointed) invites you to embrace the chaos with Run the Ship Aground!—a tactical guide to trusting the process even when the process is objectively terrible. Discover how to ignore warning signs, dismiss dissent, and go full steam ahead toward metaphorical (and occasionally literal) disaster. Ideal for leaders who mistake stubbornness for strategy. Bonus: Tips for saluting confidently while sinking.

📩Until Next Time…

Whether you’re rethinking your personal brand, dodging a follow-up from “Let’s Grab Coffee?” Guy, or updating your LinkedIn headline to “Connector | Collector | Recovering Career Criminal”—just remember:

This is your loop. Make it less transactional.

Your inbox might be haunted by unread thank-you notes, your calendar may resemble a game of Tetris played by a sleep-deprived intern, but hey—at least you didn’t send a cold DM that opened with “Can I pick your brain?”

🧠 Onward. Forward. Preferably with eye contact.

Speaking of forward - we are gearing up for something big so please forward this to anyone who might be looking for a job... like ever. (Or just that one who constantly replies with a quip on every post - we love a good challenge!)

Snarkily yours,
The Progmess Editorial Team

P.S. If you are now hopped on caffeine (thanks Progmess for coming in extra early this week!) and wanting to network, you can check out these network ideas at the Bitter End.

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