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Hustle and flow: New York never sleeps but Italy takes its sweet time<\/p>\nThis year I spent part of my summer in New York. It\u2019s a place that\u2019s close to my heart: I lived and worked here for six years as Monocle\u2019s US editor, watching the country lurch from Barack Obama\u2019s final months to Donald Trump\u2019s first term. When I returned there for the first time in a while from my new home in Milan, the contrast was stark. At the time, the Lombard capital was beginning to shut up shop for the season; residents were heading to Sardinia or Liguria, or perhaps the mountains of Valle d\u2019Aosta for a much-needed cool-off. New Yorkers, on the other hand, didn\u2019t seem to be on holiday at all. Waiters wanted to tell me all about their acting gigs and PRs quickly followed up queries by email. It was a reminder that the city is full of hustlers and many people live to work rather than vice-versa.\u00a0
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The cities\u2019 relationship with work couldn\u2019t be more different. While, thankfully, no Milanese communications professional has yet suggested that we have a \u201cdesk-side\u201d meeting (a New York staple that essentially means stalking you at your desk, rather than going somewhere nice), the difference goes much deeper than that. In New York, a sort of middle-tier friendship exists that is below full-fledged confidant but above colleague. You might have things in common \u2013 and even a shared sense of humour \u2013 but the relationship has a transactional element. It\u2019s part of a network that promises the potential of an auspicious future career. I would often be invited to drinks at people\u2019s homes and realise I was in that middle tier. Everyone around me worked in the media or other creative industries and the only question they could muster was, \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Hustle and flow: New York never sleeps but Italy takes its sweet time<\/p>\n
Italy is decidedly \u201cwork to live\u201d. I recently refurbished an apartment in Milan; I lost count of the number of times that I had to chase workers for quotes. It was as though I was expected to be grateful to them for the chance to spend my money on their services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few years ago, I visited a tech summit in a northern Italian city and spoke to one of the organisers. He mentioned that Italian start-ups are more risk averse when it comes to making the next leap. Does an aversion to risk explain why they lack the same raw work ethic as their New York counterparts? Or perhaps they are simply content with their lot \u2013 no bad thing \u2013 which means not rocking the boat too much and living the good life when the opportunity arises. There\u2019s probably room for these two very different tribes to meet in the middle. One thing is abundantly clear, however: there\u2019s no need for a \u201cdesk-side\u201d, wherever you are in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n