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I had an interesting conversation with an ex-colleague recently where I expressed the value of side hustles. I explained that in a complex world, critical thinking requires the ability to see a problem from different vantage points. Thus, having a side hustle (gigs that you do after office hours) develops this alternative perspective in employees and minimizes the occurrence of Maslow’s hammer where “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” — the cognitive bias that involves an over-reliance on a familiar tool.
Being a civil servant he was shocked that I would suggest such an idea and was adamant that civil servants should not engage in side hustles as it is considered moonlighting.
I responded by saying that the prohibition of moonlighting stems primarily from the need to prevent conflict of interests. And, if there was no conflict of interest, and the side hustle does not detract the employee from doing his primary job, then allowing it is a win for the civil service.
I added that contrary to common perceptions, side hustles actually bring benefits to the employer. My support for the side hustle, even for non-civil servants, comes from the perspective that in order to succeed in today’s complex economic environment, the knowledge worker needs an eclectic set of skills — which HR practitioners have termed…
