Honest conversations about the psychology of modern work culture
Insomnia has never been convenient. At 2:13 AM in a Las Vegas hotel, it became unexpectedly enlightening. Pacing the carpeted corridor of the 23rd floor, I crossed paths with my colleague Sarah exiting our boss Davidās room. She wore yesterdayās conference attire, hair disheveled, heels in hand. Our eyes met briefly before she hurried toward …
My boss stood in my office doorway, arms crossed. āCorinne, the client presentation needs to be completely redone by tomorrow morning.ā āAbsolutely! Iād be happy to make those changes for you,ā I replied, my voice rising half an octave. āIs there anything specific youād like me to focus on?ā The words felt sticky-sweet in my …
āJust get through the day,ā I whispered, gripping the steering wheel. The first sign wasnāt the insomnia or the Sunday night dread. It was the morning I sat in my parked car outside the office, unable to open the door. Twenty minutes passed. My reflection in the rearview mirror showed dark circles under eyes that …
My technical architecture diagrams mirror my childhood drawings ā everything in its box, every connection mapped, no surprises allowed. In design reviews, I track micro-expressions like I once tracked my fatherās moods. The senior developerās slight hesitation becomes a red flag. The product managerās tightened jaw signals incoming conflict. My colleagues praise my foresight. My …
The first time I said my salary out loud, I felt like I had broken an unspoken rule ā one that was never meant to protect me. The morning of the tech conference, I sat in my hotel room revising my slides about industry trends. My practiced talking points about cloud architecture felt hollow against …
āAmazing womenās intuition at work here. I love how you just sense these things.ā My jaw clenches before I can stop it. I grip my presentation clicker tighter, forcing a polite smile. āActually, itās called predictive modeling.ā The words come out too sharp, or maybe just sharp enough. I click to the next slide, but …