Stop Creating a Distorted Reality: How Your Organization is Unknowingly Stifling Productivity, Engagement, and Innovation

With Gallup reporting a $9 trillion price tag on disengaged employees—and the majority of employees currently disengaged—it raises a critical question: What are organizations doing wrong?

No one wakes up and decides to spend the majority of their waking hours feeling bored, frustrated, anxious, stressed, or alienated just to earn a paycheck. People don’t actively choose to disengage from work. Disengagement is a coping mechanism any healthy individual would adopt to avoid the mental discomfort, or cognitive dissonance of functioning in an environment that feels stifling, unsafe (mentally or physically), or provides an otherwise warped reality. Unfortunately, many organizations unknowingly create these exact experiences.

The Workplace Time Warp

Outside of work, we’re accustomed to seamless, personalized technology, control over our schedules, and the freedom to make decisions as responsible adults. But once we step into the office, it often feels as though we've been transported to a bygone era—outdated, inefficient, and disconnected from the modern world. This growing disconnect between the tech-savvy world outside work and the old-fashioned systems inside is a significant challenge for organizations today. Many still cling to outdated assumptions, legacy technology, and obsolete mindsets that no longer meet the demands of today’s workforce or fast-paced, business landscape. The result? A stifled work environment that hampers innovation, disengages employees and undermines an organization's ability to attract, retain, and fully leverage its talent.

The Tech Disconnect

In our everyday lives, we’re immersed in seamless, entertaining, hyper-personalized digital experiences. Platforms like Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, and AI-powered tools anticipate our needs and continuously enhance our interactions. However, in many organizations, outdated systems and manual processes still dominate the workplace, leaving employees frustrated and disengaged. When companies fail to adopt modern technology, they create inefficient, cumbersome environments that hinder productivity. This technology gap signals stagnation, which not only reduces operational efficiency but also makes organizations less attractive to top talent. The solution? It’s time to embrace AI and intuitive digital tools that improve the employee experience, streamline workflows, and reduce friction. Crucially, this transformation must be supported by effective change management to prevent burnout, minimize resistance, and ensure the full business value is realized.

The Outdated Social Contract

The traditional employer-employee relationship has long outlived its usefulness. In the past, job interviews were like first dates, followed by a blind promise of lifelong loyalty. However, gone are the days when people dedicated their careers to a single organization in exchange for predictable raises, bonuses, and a pension. Today, pensions are nonexistent, wages are underwhelming, and companies are quick to do layoffs the moment their profits dip below a certain margin. Yet, companies wonder why there is a lack of loyalty.

In my book, The Flourishing Effect, I propose a new social contract—one that reflects the realities of today’s workforce and economic landscape. It’s a contract built on transparency, mutual value creation, and long-term partnership. This approach sets clear expectations and encourages conscious coupling and uncoupling, reducing the chances of either party being blindsided. Think of it as an ongoing courtship, where both parties opt in regularly, much like a subscription service.

It allows for real-time adjustments that reflect the evolving employee-employer dynamic and business conditions. The result is a generative partnership, focused on optimizing time, resources, and purpose to create value for both sides, fostering win-win outcomes instead of power struggles rooted in ego and control.

The 1920s Called; They Want Their Ways of Working Back

Industrial-era practices and performance metrics have long outlived their relevance. Originally designed over a century ago to maximize efficiency, enforce compliance, and enable surveillance on factory floors, these methods were built for a workforce bound to a single location, expected to follow orders without question or innovation. However, the world has changed. With globalization, rapid technological advancements, and a more diverse, informed, and empowered workforce, it’s clear that organizations must evolve—or risk falling behind.

Here’s where many organizations are still getting it wrong:

Rethink Return-to-Office (RTO) Demands: Forcing employees back into offices under the guise of "collaboration" ignores the lessons of the past five years, where teams have proven they can work differently—and often more effectively. The data (linked in comments) overwhelmingly shows no productivity upside to mandatory RTO demands, but plenty of downsides, including decreased productivity and increased attrition among high performers, women, and millennials. As Dr. Alise Cortez and I discussed on her recent podcast (linked in comments), one of the reasons RTO demands have such a negative effect is that they trigger three major psychological tensions: reactance (resisting perceived control), loss aversion (viewing remote work as a hard-earned benefit being taken away), and gaslighting (a disconnect between leadership’s messaging and employees' lived reality). Here are some ways to do it successfully.
Redefining Productivity, Efficiency, and Innovation: We all know how much LARP-ing (live-action role-playing) happens when employees are forced to clock arbitrary hours in the office. Measuring productivity by hours worked is an outdated relic—especially in the age of AI. Instead, leaders must shift to measuring output and impact. As research from Brian Elliott and others has shown, a results-driven approach incentivizes true efficiency and innovation rather than rewarding presenteeism.
Eliminating Friction: One of the core principles of behavioral economics and persuasion psychology is simple: make it easy for people to do what you want them to do. Yet, most organizations operate in the exact opposite way. Employees battle disparate technology systems, red tape, emotional labor, and endless meetings—essentially working a second job just to get through the first one. This unnecessary friction breeds burnout and disengagement. Instead, organizations must streamline workflows, remove obstacles, and design systems that enable people to focus on high-impact work. Check out my recent newsletter to determine which sources of friction you’re guilty of and how to mitigate them.

Organizations Must Evolve

Organizations that cling to outdated assumptions, mindsets, and ways of working are not only stifling innovation and productivity but also fueling disengagement and burnout among their workforce. These companies become increasingly vulnerable to disruption, as they grow more irrelevant to both their employees and customers. To thrive in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, leaders must embrace change—whether by adopting new work practices, rethinking the employer-employee relationship, or eliminating friction in daily workflows. The organizations that succeed in this transformation will attract top talent, unlock the full potential of their teams, and foster a culture where innovation, engagement, and productivity can thrive.