Breaking the Busyness Trap in Organizations
In the last few years, it seems like every water cooler check in when someone asks, "how are you" is met with "busy".
We wear it like a badge of honor.
Organizations seem to be especially addicted to busynness. Busy is getting in the way of us being productive. Effort and impact are not always correlated.
Let's rewind for a moment. When we designed modern workplaces, we basically copied the factory model – time in equals productivity out. But here's the thing: we're not manufacturing widgets anymore. We're solving complex problems that require creative thinking and innovation. Our brains aren't assembly lines, yet we're treating them like they are. Add in our always-on technology and a culture that glorifies hustle, and we've created the perfect storm. I see it every day: leaders struggling with packed calendars while their teams are drowning in notifications, meetings, and endless to-do lists. But the actual cost of this culture is staggering. From talent leaving due to burn out to, leaders being so busy in the weeds that they can’t be strategic.
So why do we stay stuck in this cycle? If we go back to those factory roots, it’s been drilled into us that being busy and industrious is a measure of how productive we are. There’s a fear that if we are not visibly busy, they'll be seen as inefficient or unnecessary. It's like we're all doing this elaborate dance to prove our worth, measuring success by activity rather than impact.
To break free from the cycle, we need to redefine productivity, beyond just activity metrics.
We need to measure impact, and continually iterate and evolve our impact, rather than wasting our time managing the perception of busy we look.
It’s time we started prioritizing and rewarding deep, focused work and recovery. I see this time and again with my clients, the leadership teams that continually set direction, prioritize and learn from the feedback in the market outperform the ones mired in the weeds.
Sustained high performance doesn't come from constant busyness. It comes from balanced, intentional work rhythms that allow for both focused effort and genuine recovery.
It's time we stopped wearing busyness as a badge of honor and started designing workplaces that actually work. Because in the end, success isn't about how busy you appear – it's about the meaningful impact you create.
