True commitment to work-life balance is giving people permission to take other priorities as seriously as their jobs.
In burnout cultures, people are expected to drop everything for work. In healthy cultures, people are encouraged to protect time for family, health, and leisure.
Productivity is overrated. What counts most is the quality of output, not the quantity.
People may be impressed by the volume you produce, but impact depends on the value you create.
Success isn't about getting more things done. It's about doing more worthwhile things well.
The first principle of psychological safety:
The harder you make it to voice problems, the harder it becomes to solve them.
The issues people are most afraid to raise are the most likely to become thorns in your side. It’s impossible to fix what you don't know is broken.
Choosing not to attend an unpaid work event doesn't reveal the absence of loyalty. It reflects the presence of other priorities.
If team-building, dinners, and parties are part of the job, they should be compensated.
Otherwise, attendance should be an option, not an obligation.
You can’t refute data with opinions. The best way to challenge evidence is with better evidence.
Confirmation bias is dismissing inconvenient facts. Critical thinking is questioning your beliefs.
The goal of learning is to pursue what's true, not defend your views.
The antidote to passive-aggressiveness is not brutal honesty. Candor without care just makes you an asshole.
Communicating well is being direct in your message and kind in your delivery.
The goal isn't to sugarcoat the truth. It's to make it clear that you're trying to help.