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When urgency is just dysfunction in fast-forward. I was asked to join an existing contract for a short-term agile coaching position. They needed someone to come on quickly who lived in the DMV and had a Secret Clearance. The contract was set to expire in November or maybe September. I heard different things from different people, so who really knows... All I knew was that they needed me to start STAT. So urgently that they neglected to share that the position had core hours

If you want to understand what a company truly values, don’t read the mission statement. Read the metrics dashboard. What gets measured gets managed, and what gets managed defines the culture. And let’s be real: a lot of what gets measured is garbage. OKRs. KPIs. "Velocity." Numbers people drop into every conversation as fancy buzzwords to prove they're hustlin' with the best of them. But in most cases, these metrics aren't well-defined or grounded in what actually matters. A

They told me to take all the time I needed. But they only offered 40 hours of maternity leave. The rest I had to patch together with PTO I didn’t really have—because my pregnancy had been brutal. Constant nausea, debilitating heartburn, and missed workdays just to stay upright. By the time my six weeks were up, I was out of time. Out of energy. And about to walk back into the same toxic environment I had barely survived before. The project I returned to? The one with the clie

Ten years ago, while pregnant with my first, I was charged with the task of converting downloadable software to a web-based app. The client was really tough. Wasn't a subject matter expert, wasn't an end user, wasn't a technical expert, and wasn't really tech savvy, period. The most direction we got was "make it look like Turbo Tax". Um, okay.... The first iteration straight up failed. We had an "agile expert" Product Owner who just ghosted us in the middle of the project. I

For decades, businesses have chased one thing: output. Whether it’s revenue, deliverables, or customer satisfaction—value has been defined in terms of what gets delivered, not how it gets created. But we've been measuring value, and subsequently success, wrong this whole time. And I don't know about you guys, but I DO NOT want to play "Boar on the Floor" to be considered valuable... Value doesn’t start at the end of the pipeline when something is finally delivered (a product,

The last couple of months I've been laying out a case for the death of hustle culture through my own experiences, the experiences of others I've encountered along my career path, data and industry studies, and just plain ol' common sense. For the TL;DR version, read on. The Cost of Hustle Culture...And Why It’s Time to Move On For years, we’ve been sold the lie that working harder, longer, and faster is the key to success. Grind culture. Productivity hacks. Always-on availabi

Step Back, Bounce Forward: The Radical Case for Sabbaticals For too long, we’ve been trapped in a culture that equates nonstop work with productivity. Hustle culture demands that we deliver, produce, and push forward at all costs, leaving little space for the very things that fuel long-term success—rest, creativity, and meaningful human connection. Sabbaticals have long been seen as an elite perk, reserved for tenured professors or executives with decades of service. But what

How Companies Can Actually Reduce Burnout and Retain Top Talent For years, companies have expected employees to "do more with less," squeeze in extra hours, and push through exhaustion. But let’s be real—hustle culture isn’t just toxic, it’s stupid business. And the data proves it. According to a 2024 Gallup report, 77% of employees are disengaged at work, with 16% actively disengaged—a phenomenon now called loud quitting. On a global scale, low employee engagement costs busi

Super excited for White Lotus Season 2! The Wake-Up Call: When Burnout Catches Up With You For most of my life, I didn’t just juggle responsibilities—I collected them. I reveled in being able to do all the things for all the people all the time. People-pleasing on steroids. The more I could handle, the more valuable I felt. If someone said, “I don’t know how you do it all!” or “Where do you find the energy?” it wasn’t just a compliment—it was my fuel. Proof that I was worthy.

For years, I prided myself on being able to push through. Like so many of us caught in the relentless cycle of hustle culture, I wore my busyness like a badge of honor. I believed in the grind, convinced that productivity equaled value and that slowing down was a sign of weakness. I poured my energy into my work, my family, and my aspirations, all while neglecting the most basic truth: our bodies can only take so much. 2024 hit me like a ton of bricks. It wasn’t like I slowed

Back in August, I attended a conference, and one of the keynote speakers said something that hit me like a lightning bolt: Hustle culture lauds speed. Speed creates energy and energy creates heat. When that heat doesn’t have an outlet, it stays in the body as inflammation. And chronic inflammation can make people really sick. That got me thinking (and maybe overthinking, because let’s be honest, that’s my brand). We’re not just tired from the hustle—we’re simmering in it.

Have you ever noticed that your best ideas don’t show up when you’re scrambling to hit a deadline or crossing off tasks on your to-do list? They come when you’re in the shower, on a walk, or lying in bed trying to fall asleep. Creativity doesn’t like to be rushed—it needs space to breathe. For me, having space came during a time at my former place of employment, where I was working as an agile coach, and we had zero clients. At first, it felt unsettling—what was I doing with

When we glorify speed, we often fail to ask: At what cost? Hustle culture isn’t just hard on individuals—it’s hard on teams, organizations, and the systems we rely on. Let’s start with the obvious: mistakes. When speed takes precedence over quality, errors pile up. Projects require rework, deadlines get missed, and teams are left scrambling to fix problems that could have been avoided with a more thoughtful approach. The cost isn’t just financial—it’s emotional. People burn o

We’ve all heard it: "I need it yesterday." Or if you worked in service industry: "I need it on the fly." Or in a hospital: "I need it stat!" Speed has become the ultimate measure of success. How fast can we move? How quickly can we deliver? But here’s the thing: fast doesn’t always mean good. Think about the last time you got something fast. Was it what you wanted? Was it done well? Or did you end up with something burned, something soggy, something broken, the wrong item? Sp

The Problem with Hustle Culture In a world where technology, especially AI, is speeding everything up, you’d think we’d finally have more time. Instead, it feels like the faster we go, the more we’re expected to do. The promise of efficiency has been replaced with a new expectation: do more, produce more, and never let up. And all of this is happening in the name of hustle culture. But hustle culture isn’t just exhausting—it’s unsustainable. It doesn’t leave room for creativi

Kindness, Not a KPI When was the last time you showed empathy, not because you were supposed to, but because it just felt right? Now think about your workplace. How often does empathy show up there—authentic empathy—not the kind you read about in the latest leadership book or saw in a corporate workshop video? In many organizations, empathy is treated like a checkbox. It’s something we do to improve employee engagement scores or retain talent. It’s empathy as a strategy—not e

We’ve all heard the phrase “work-life balance” tossed around. It’s one of those ideas that sounds amazing in theory, but let’s be honest: does anyone truly achieve it? Most of us end up feeling like we’re in a constant juggling act, with work, family, and health all in the air—and something is always about to drop. And in a world that never stops moving, is balance even possible? Maybe we’ve been aiming at the wrong target. Instead of striving for “balance” between work and l

In my first blog post, I talked about the importance of reclaiming humanity at work—creating spaces where we can show up as our full, authentic selves and lean into a growth mindset. But humanity isn’t always easy or polished. Sometimes, it’s messy, raw, and deeply personal. This week, I was reminded of that in an unexpected and deeply emotional way when family trauma made an appearance in my professional life. A Personal Story: Recently, I shared the launch of this blog seri

The other day, I had a parent-teacher conference with my 9-year-old son Eli’s teacher. She mentioned how she’s working with him to develop a “growth mindset.” She’s teaching him that learning isn’t just about getting things right—it’s about staying curious, trying new things, and embracing the process of growth, even when it’s uncomfortable. I couldn’t help but think: Isn’t this exactly what we aim for in the world of SAFe and agile transformations? We talk so often about the