Is Our Productivity Culture Toxic?

Open to Debate

Education, Society & Culture, News, Government, Politics

4.5 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The pressure to constantly be productive and achieve has become an aspiration one should aspire. But is this mindset worth the effort? Those claiming it’s toxic argue it creates impossible standards, opening the door for anxiety, burnout, and disconnection. But some argue the problem isn’t productivity itself, but how we’ve come to define success — and the unrealistic expectations that come with it. Now we debate: Is Our Productivity Culture Toxic? Arguing Yes: Jennifer Moss, Workplace Culture Expert; Author of "The Burnout Epidemic" Rahaf Harfoush, Digital Anthropologist and New York Times Best-Selling Author Arguing No: David Allen, Creator of the "Getting Things Done" Time Management Method and Author Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates Visit OpentoDebate.org to watch more insightful debates. Take our podcast listener survey here: https://bit.ly/opentodebatesurvey Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed on our curated weekly debates, dynamic live events, and educational initiatives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Ava from Vanta. In today's digital world, compliance regulations are changing constantly,
0:07.1	and earning customer trust has never mattered more. Vanta helps companies get compliant fast and stay
0:12.9	secure, with the most advanced AI automation and continuous monitoring out there. So whether
0:17.8	you're a startup going for your first SO stock two or ISO-27,001,
0:21.5	or a growing enterprise managing vendor risk, Banta makes it quick, easy, and scalable.
0:26.4	And I'm not to say that because I work here. Get started today at banta.com.
0:31.9	This is open to debate. I'm John Donvan. Hi, everybody. This episode, a debate centering on life
0:36.9	in the workplace as you
0:38.3	climb up the ladder, a place where ever-increasing productivity on your part is, if anything,
0:43.8	an imperative. Productivity means dollar for dollar that you earn. You are ever more efficient
0:48.7	at what you do, and ideally more innovative and more creative. But, and you knew there was a butt
0:52.7	coming, does the drive for
0:54.3	productivity come at a cost to your mental health, to your ability to achieve a balance in life?
1:00.0	Because of what of trying to be more productive means, say, you work while you're on vacation,
1:03.8	or even skip vacation altogether, which is how we know some people are handling this.
1:08.3	Getting it all right or deciding this emphasis on productivity
1:11.0	is a misplaced priority. That's what we're looking at in this debate, where we have four
1:15.4	debaters and one question, is our productivity culture toxic? Let's meet our debaters. Answering yes to
1:22.3	that question is our productivity culture toxic. I want to welcome Jennifer Moss. Jennifer is author of
1:27.4	the burnout epidemic, the rise of chronic stress, and how we can feel. Productivity Culture, Toxic. I want to welcome Jennifer Moss. Jennifer is author of The Burnout
1:28.3	Epidemic, The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It. Jennifer, welcome to open the debate.
1:33.3	It's great to have you with us. It's great to be here. And your partner in this debate is Rahaf Harfush,
	...

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