THE OPTIMIZATION LIE – Why We No Longer Have Time to Do Our Jobs

When LinkedIn work tips no longer work.

The promise of New Work, which aims to make us more efficient and work less through technology and self-organization, has not been fulfilled. Last year alone, German employees worked around 1.3 billion overtime hours, with more than half of them unpaid. Work is not only becoming more tightly scheduled but also simply: more. Calls pile up, meetings are kept, tickets are pushed, and tasks are documented. All tools are used, all to-dos are checked off, and all meetings are attended. Yet at the end of the day, there often remains a feeling of: What have I actually accomplished? Or even: What have I created? This could be described as rampant processism. But a different narrative is needed for what successful work can look like. 
A societal wake-up call and contribution to the debate from the heart of current practices, exploring better ways: from the 4-day workweek to workations, from asynchronous work to the use of AI for planning and processes. This is a draft for a new, contemporary narrative for successful work.