The Toxic Work Scapegoat: Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Somewhere between Matt Lauer and X — formerly Twitter, the lines between a toxic work environment and normal, or dare I say strict work ethic, became blurry. Perhaps the extreme situations that make headlines share a role in the misconception that all hard work environments are therefore toxic. The Everyone Gets a Trophy generation, has come into the workforce and demanded a seat at the table or else they will deem you toxic too.

If you look up the definition of a toxic work environment, you’ll get something similar to: a toxic work environment refers to a workplace where the overall atmosphere is harmful, unhealthy, or detrimental to the well-being and productivity of its employees.

I think most people can agree that discrimination and bullying are hands down wrong in all situations, but baring cases where those are the issue, what does “harmful, unhealthy, or detrimental” actually mean? This description is so vague that you can almost manipulate any situation to fit into this box.

Unintended Consequences

The unintended consequence of trying to build the self-esteem of children playing sports is that they grew up to be adults with the attitude that their mere presence is enough to deserve a reward or recognition. They didn’t have to earn it then and unless parents…