What were your biggest takeaways from the hit TV Series, Severance?

Kristen Roth

(Disclaimer: While there are no spoilers in this post itself, I can't guarantee there won't be any in the comments! Read on with caution... ⚠️)

I don't know about you, but I found the show Severance to be pretty wild. Have you watched it yet? It's one of those shows that just kind of haunts you and keeps creeping back into your thoughts in an intriguing way. Being a show about work and workplace culture, I really wanted to hear some thoughts on it from this group.

There were several apparent themes that popped out and realizations that I had while watching, but for me, I think these were the top two:

• Work-life balance is far from a "one-size-fits-all" concept: We have "segmentors" and "integrators" with some folks choosing to be on one extreme end or the other. I realized that I often fluctuate here depending on what's going on at the time at home and at work. I recently went through a period that required me to be an "integrator" for several weeks taking more of an always-available approach to work but have been making my way back to more of a "segmentor" lifestyle. You?
• Identity contradictions can be really tough to navigate: Who are we really if we have two versions of ourselves — a "work self" and a "home self"? Here's a little plug for why we should bring our whole, authentic selves to work. I've improved a lot in this area over the years and I think it's made me better at my job.

How about you? What were the themes/realizations that you found most glaring throughout the show, and maybe even relatable?

Christine P. Dela Rosa

On that second point, the idea of a separate "work self" and "home self" was a gamechanger.

• I've not seen such a literal interpretation of this idea. The show demonstrated, that not only will the work self miss out on having a fuller work experience with their non-work self integrated, but that their non-work self completely misses out on the perspective and energy gained from work.
• It's very relatable. I grow so much from my job experience and learning from teammates. Confining that to "just the workplace" would limit myself from growing fully.

Visually, there's a strong theme of a time capsule. The art decor of the main workplace feels like it's from another time period. It lacks connection to timely news about the world or even access to books. It makes me think that in addition to the individual being stripped of information about their non-work lives, the environment too is stripped of information about the world. Which makes it so much about control as though staff are frozen in time. So now I'm thinking twice about windowless offices, non-decorative walls, and the ability to bring inspiration into the workplace.