Open to Debate Is Our Productivity Culture Toxic?
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Aug 19, 2025 
Jennifer Moss, a workplace culture expert, discusses the rise of burnout and stresses the need for healthier environments. Amy Edmondson focuses on psychological safety in organizations, while David Allen shares his stress-free productivity methods. Rahaf Harfoush critiques the relentless hustle culture shaped by technology, highlighting its societal impacts. They debate whether our obsession with productivity is toxic or if it's our definitions of success that need rethinking, encouraging a shift towards meaningful work and collective success.
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Productivity Has Outpaced How Value Is Created
- Productivity expectations have been steadily ratcheting up since the 1950s and no longer match how value is created today.
- That mismatch, amplified by meetings, remote work blurring and AI, drives chronic stress and burnout.
Bad Metrics, Not Productivity, Drive Harm
- The problem is often not productivity itself but how we measure it using inputs like hours and email counts instead of meaningful results.
- Narrow metrics punish long‑lag creative or experimental work that produces valuable outputs later.
Hustle Roots Clash With Knowledge Work
- Productivity ideology traces to factory-era assembly lines and doesn't suit complex knowledge or creative work.
- Embedding productivity into identity and deservingness creates 'work devotion' that rewards visible sacrifice, not meaningful outcomes.
