Perspective: 4 reasons people need fixing if we are going to fix workplaces
It's contentious, but I believe we all need fixing.
Research indicates that 70% of people are on the path to burnout. If true, this isn’t evidence of an effective workplace system! But just because the system doesn’t work doesn’t mean we don't also need help.
In discussions of burnout and problematic workplaces I see a lot of 'don’t fix people, fix systems' sentiments.
Both things can be true. If we accept that yes the system is broken, but so are people, then maybe we can take action instead of just talking about it.
We are the system
I’ve spent most of my career tired, working to prove… something… how competent, smart, driven, and deserving I was. I spent the first decade of my career in large corporate organisations. Despite this I was rarely someone who worked late into the evening, I just couldn’t do it.
As I write this, I feel compelled to tell you that while I didn’t often work late, I was typically the first person in the office. Why do I need to explain this?
Because we’re taught we are the problem, not the organisation or the wider systems. This means believing that being in the office longer than others = a hard worker, and not being a 'hard worker' makes you unworthy, less-than. So, I have to ensure you know I am a hard worker. I don’t believe this narrative now, but these beliefs are learned early and have deep roots.
Rarely working into the evening saved me for many year - I had a social life and did sports. I had some balance. As I progressed the pressure felt bigger. Unwittingly, I shifted my priorities to work over all else. My social life was work; my world got smaller. I lost social connection and support, cooked less, exercised less, and rested less.
I was doing what was expected, prioritising work and coping the same way as everyone else. This normalisation of unhealthy behaviour that serves only a few is key to the system continuing.
When I burnt-out a few years ago, it was because I was deeply integrated into the system, a living part perpetuating it, and it wasn’t designed for me.
2. Broken people can’t fix a broken system.
I became cynical and disconnected. I wasn’t doing a 'good job.' Those working for me suffered, my decision-making leaned towards easy and fast, not best.
Imagine trying to make life changes while living like this. You may not have to imagine it; nothing I’ve described is unique to me. If you listen to anyone talking about their experiences of burnout, it’s a mix of societal beliefs, poorly designed work structures, and poor coping mechanisms.
It is incredibly hard to create change, even in small ways if you feel broken. Broken people can’t fix a broken system.
3. The system is bigger than work
But the system broke us, I hear you scream. It´s not our fault. I hear you, I´m with you.
What’s heartbreaking is that people aren’t broken. We are functioning exactly as designed; our ability to adapt is phenomenal. We’re experiencing a natural response to a world not designed for how we operate best.
But I don’t care about fault; it won’t fix it. I can’t wait for someone to realise they have power and take action. In the meantime, I, and you, risk losing valuable years of our lives.
It isn’t just the workplace system. How many of you grew up in a world that encouraged you to prioritize your health, taught you to build deep self-awareness and emotional understanding, and to recognize your needs and meet them in healthy ways?
Do you know what that feels like? Would you know where to start?
Research shows that healthy, emotionally resilient people with good stress coping are better equipped to create change. They’re also generally higher performers and more productive. You only need a basic understanding of psychology and behavioural science to see how badly designed the system of work is for how human beings function. It’s a system designed for identikit robots. So not only is the system broken, but it’s also completely illogical.
4. Denying people support feeds the system
In discussions of fixing workplaces, there’s often talk about focusing on the systems, not the people.
I agree that organisations teaching people stress management in the hope they work harder while ignoring horrible systems is ridiculous and cruel.
But that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t benefit from learning to manage stress better. For many people, 'managing stress' involves ignoring 'unhelpful' emotions, putting on a 'brave face'—pretending everything is fine when it’s not—and keeping ridiculously busy because that’s what we were taught.
That’s not managing stress; that’s a recipe for serious health issues.
We’re expecting others, and ourselves, to create change but not to look after themselves while doing it. We’re transferring toxic beliefs about hard work and worthiness onto people trying to change the system that makes us believe all that in the first place.
That´s madness.
Whatever reason you want change—for yourself, your loved ones, your workplace, the wider world—you cannot create sustainable change if you’re sinking.
That doesn’t mean taking a holiday once a year. It means designing your life to give you the things that fill you up—movement, human connection, nutrition, joy, laughter, whatever it looks like to you.
It means doing the hard work of understanding yourself so that you are better equipped to make choices for you, even if they go against the system.
My work
This is hard—no sugarcoating. This is why I have redesigned my business to work directly with people who are done with feeling exhausted and stuck but need some support, and who want to design their lives and work for humans, not robots.
If you’re curious, I’d love to hear from you.
