| Welcome to Bw Daily, the Bloomberg Businessweek newsletter, where we'll bring you interesting voices, great reporting and the magazine's usual charm every weekday. Let us know what you think by emailing our editor here. If this has been forwarded to you, click here to sign up. What do you think of the Bw Daily newsletter? Take our survey. In the latest installment of our Sad Desk Salad career column from Anna Holmes … How do I—or do I—talk about politics at work? I'm dreading the presidential election this year, and the months of debate and contentiousness over the Israel-Hamas war are driving me crazy. —Linda, 52, Pittsburgh Do you talk about politics at work? No, you do not. I have a problem keeping my mouth shut and/or my opinions to myself—which may be a good thing, at least with regard to writing an advice column. But when it comes to work environments, and conversations with professional colleagues and peers, I'd advise you to do as I do and engage in more listening than anything else. My friend Ami has an acronym she's been using as a sort of guide over the past few months: SLDL. It stands for "Say Less, Do Less." I have to admit I don't particularly love the idea of SLDL. For one thing, I think a lot of us, myself included, can take too passive a stance in life in general, and we don't speak our minds with the regularity and passion that we should. Even so, the underlying idea of SLDL has merit. Namely, that we might learn more about others, ourselves and our motivations if we just stop reacting to societal and social expectations that we ABC (Always Be Communicating … and yes, I made that up). We spend so much time communicating—especially using digital tech—that we don't necessarily allow ourselves the time for more consideration or thoughtfulness in how we take in information and put it back out into the world. Part of what I hate about social media, for example, is the expectation that everyone has an opinion and shares that opinion. Most opinions are not worth sharing, I think, and that goes for virtue-signaling around politics. I know it's easy for me to say that you just shouldn't talk about politics, especially during an election year where it feels like the very foundations of American democracy are on the chopping block. (Did you see what I just did there?) Also: "Just say no" feels like a cheap way of wriggling out of what is a difficult question, because your query is a lot more complicated than asking me for a simple yes or no, and it demands consideration. For one thing, you're telling me your expectations for what 2024 may bring are marked by anxiety, or, as you put it, dread. I respect that and can identify with that feeling. You're also, I suspect, not wanting a "yes" or "no" answer to the issue of talking about politics at work so much as you're wanting an answer to the first part of your question: the "how" to talk about politics.  Photograph by 731 Unfortunately, the best I can do (besides telling you to not talk politics at all, which is probably the safest option) is offer some questions to guide your thinking. What counts as talking about politics at work? Commenting on the latest headlines? And what a workplace is for, in your mind? Is it a place to be your authentic self? A place where business happens? A little of both? Is there anything to be gained from having a political discussion at work? And do you use social media? We live in an age in which the idea of "personal versus professional" is fungible; posting on a personal Instagram account that is public can lead to professional ramifications if your bosses or clients are offended. At this point in the 21st century, what you say is who you are. (And, in some cases, what you read is who you are. I got yelled at by someone on Twitter a few years ago for following the account of another individual who the "someone" felt was transphobic. I had to explain to this someone that not all of my "follows" are necessarily endorsements of those folks' ideas.) Of course, whether you can or need to talk about politics at work depends on your workplace: Some workplaces offer employees guidelines on appropriate and inappropriate types of communication. It also depends on whether talking about politics is part of your work. I spoke to my friend Rebecca Traister, a political writer and thinker for New York magazine, about how she'd approach your question. After all, it's her stated job to talk about politics! She, as always, had a lot of smart things to say. So what did Traister have to say? Read on! And if you have a work conundrum to submit to Sad Desk Salad, go here. | 
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