Totally have these same beliefs. The one thing that's hard to decipher is when the work/company has made it a mint plant or when you relationship to the work is what's made it a mint plant...
Oh it's so true! I've definitely seen and felt both—where the work is taking over and I try to resist but can't. And other times when the work is totally behaving itself and I'm trying to sign myself up for more and more. And sometimes both! There are such powerful positive feedback loops when we work more and are rewarded for it—extrinsically and intrinsically, despite what it might do to the rest of our lives/health.
Appreciate your writing and sentiments. I work at a company that tries to be an apple tree with a motto of “excellence with ease,” yet we’ve had 3 rounds of layoffs in one year and we were already small (went from 32 to 5 people), so it feels wildly unstable when the company seems like it’s trying to do better by employees yet simply isn’t thriving (financially) with a less is more approach. Our industry is taking a hit (DEIB), so there’s that reality. I’m also underpaid and now performing 1.5 roles, but there is lots of ease in our culture (no late emails, back to back meetings, etc). So, I’m torn between feeling like more ease also means less earning potential, which is hard with a family. Yet, I want to keep trying for a clear boundary and separation of work from personal.
Oh no I'm so sorry, Tina. That sounds extraordinarily stressful. I've had times myself when leading my last consultancy and my daughter was young when I wrote down my priorities: "1. Keep child alive. 2. Keep business alive." It was a lot. The truth is that sometimes you can get all the people stuff right, and still the business stuff doesn't work for whatever reason—the market, the strategy, pricing, etc.
I do think it can sometimes be joyful to come together in an underdog moment and really go all out to jumpstart a business. In those moments, maybe a little exhaustion feels good—like you're really giving it your all. (The trick is making sure you don't need to operate at that level forever). Sort of like how injury-related inflammation is good—your body is throwing a ton of resources into healing, but chronic inflammation is bad—a constant state of stress on your body.
I don't know what the answer is at your organization, but hoping things will get easier soon...
Totally have these same beliefs. The one thing that's hard to decipher is when the work/company has made it a mint plant or when you relationship to the work is what's made it a mint plant...
Oh it's so true! I've definitely seen and felt both—where the work is taking over and I try to resist but can't. And other times when the work is totally behaving itself and I'm trying to sign myself up for more and more. And sometimes both! There are such powerful positive feedback loops when we work more and are rewarded for it—extrinsically and intrinsically, despite what it might do to the rest of our lives/health.
I've realized I have the same two contradicting beliefs and have struggled to reconcile them. As always, I appreciate your thoughts so much!
Thanks, as always, for reading!
Appreciate your writing and sentiments. I work at a company that tries to be an apple tree with a motto of “excellence with ease,” yet we’ve had 3 rounds of layoffs in one year and we were already small (went from 32 to 5 people), so it feels wildly unstable when the company seems like it’s trying to do better by employees yet simply isn’t thriving (financially) with a less is more approach. Our industry is taking a hit (DEIB), so there’s that reality. I’m also underpaid and now performing 1.5 roles, but there is lots of ease in our culture (no late emails, back to back meetings, etc). So, I’m torn between feeling like more ease also means less earning potential, which is hard with a family. Yet, I want to keep trying for a clear boundary and separation of work from personal.
Oh no I'm so sorry, Tina. That sounds extraordinarily stressful. I've had times myself when leading my last consultancy and my daughter was young when I wrote down my priorities: "1. Keep child alive. 2. Keep business alive." It was a lot. The truth is that sometimes you can get all the people stuff right, and still the business stuff doesn't work for whatever reason—the market, the strategy, pricing, etc.
I do think it can sometimes be joyful to come together in an underdog moment and really go all out to jumpstart a business. In those moments, maybe a little exhaustion feels good—like you're really giving it your all. (The trick is making sure you don't need to operate at that level forever). Sort of like how injury-related inflammation is good—your body is throwing a ton of resources into healing, but chronic inflammation is bad—a constant state of stress on your body.
I don't know what the answer is at your organization, but hoping things will get easier soon...
Dear Bree,
Nicely said.
Humbly, inside each apple is an orchard.
🙏
Beautiful!