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blind to rank

in conversations

Meaning ignoring class/hierarchy when speaking with others

I occasionally work with a guy who opens every email with "Hey <person>" regardless of who it is and it always struck me as informal. I wonder if it's a similar rank-blindness in conversations.

Swede here, it’s really prevalent in Sweden to just use first names irrespective of who it is. Your boss, boss’s boss, your doctor, or as the case of an athlete winning an Olympic medal: even the prime minister, even calling her a nickname[1].

I believe it is partly due to a reform back in the days dropping thou and titles[2].

1. https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/a/Bj4Lkg/os-2022-nils... (Swedish)

2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du-reformen

Americans increasingly do that all the time. It's super weird as a (relatively) young American to treat anybody differently from anybody else.

I feel like in the American workplace we’re expected to be casual and friendly with everyone while also being acutely aware of rank. So if your boss sends a silly meme, you might want to reply with another silly meme. But if you go over your boss’s head and send an unsolicited “hey <first name of the boss’s boss>” email, you might still be in for repercussions. Just because everyone is on a first name basis and drinks beer together at happy hour doesn’t mean they’re really on equal footing.

How are you supposed to address your boss's boss?

I suppose the point is that you aren't. You talk to your immediate superior instead. And then your boss does the same if he/she decides there is a talk to talk.

I think some places still expect you to use their honorific prefix and address them by their last name. Definitely a dying trend though.

LOL thanks for the clarification