Art Collaboration between Phil Welding and Rowan Bailey: The Effects of Involuntary Thinking in the Workplace

The results of the study undertaken between March and September 2011, through focus group and in-depth interview analysis with 10 severely affected employees, indicates that the underlying trauma of the incident that took place on January 7th 2011 has produced a unique form of estrangement with utilitarian objects. The workplace environment within which this estrangement persists, has cultivated an obscure desire in its workers to fixate on the trace of plastic residues in all things. When prompted, the respondents in the study articulate their relationship to obsolete objects in unusual and unpredictable ways. This has affected their work performance and ability to carry out simple tasks considerably. The results of the study show that a condition called ‘involuntary thinking’ has taken over work production. A detailed summary of the underlying issues of this condition will be accounted for in this report, with suggested strategies for coping with involuntary thinking behaviour. Although these strategies are by no means a solution for the problem, they may provide management with short-term safeguards to limit further involuntary conflicts within the workplace.

http://www.philipwelding.co.uk/humanresources2.htm