The Dearth of Follow-Through
Thru or through, you pick your grammar poison today, folks!
Welcome to Pushing Ink, where we discuss the broken world of work, mostly, mixed with pop culture, sometimes … among other hot topics.
I’d a former boss who loved to brainstorm any number of ideas during employee meetings. A true treasure trove of ideas that, for the most part, could never be implemented due to staff and (or) monetary constraints. However, they always made it a habit, an asterisk to the meeting, to remind us employees this brainstorm session was only that, a brainstorm session. In many ways, it felt like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. A lot of energy spent on ideas that would ultimately sink in the face of inevitable limitations.
The asterisk came about well ahead of my arrival to the organization. Apparently, a fellow colleague had a habit of hitting the ground running after every meeting. Once dismissed, they’d set out to make every brainstorm a reality. Only to have their bubble burst when told they weren’t supposed to actually follow-through with any of those brainstorms.
Now, while it was disappointing to put in the time and effort for nothing, it showcased this colleague’s endless supply of creativity, knowledge, and ability. They were ready to commit and had great follow-through. If someone asked them anything, they’d complete it. If they couldn’t, they were always forthcoming and let everyone know from the start (usually a rare occurrence to preemptively admit defeat). In short, there was never any surprises when this colleague’s help wasn’t available or an assignment incomplete. If they said they’d do it, they did it, within reason, of course. No, they were not a people-pleaser, and hold that thought for a topic on another day.
You know, I miss that colleague. I miss the rarity of follow-through people.
Where have all the follow-through people gone?
Let’s put an asterisk on that question as we get started with today’s Pushing Ink.
The Impact of Burnout
I follow a lot of social media accounts related to the working world. Some are negative, some are positive, some offer quick real-world observations and news. A few are nothing more than memes. Many focus on one recurring theme: frustration.
There’s a lot of frustration in the workplace as employees feel disposable, wages fail to keep up with the cost of living year after year (turning into decades), and benefits are woefully, if not tragically, inadequate. Not to mention the world-at-large feeling like the wheels on the bus are flying off at full speed.
This frustration leads to stress, apathy, and, in many cases, a lack of follow-through. Some call it checking out or quiet quitting, wherein employees do only what’s required to get the job done, nothing more. No going above and beyond. (Oy, our society’s need to name all of the things as I came across a new one last week, task masking.) Of course, they’re not actually quitting, but disengaging from extra effort, overtime, and hustle culture. And given the reality of most jobs, who can blame them? Because let’s be real, hustling often leads to more responsibilities and thus more work. Rarely, if ever, does that lead to more pay.
But I’m getting ahead of myself …
When discussing lack of follow-through, we usually point a finger at monotonous work, poor leadership, or a bad cultural fit. But that overlooks a fundamental issue, one I always return to, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. If a person’s basic needs aren’t being met, how can they be expected to be attentive, productive, or follow through at work?
Remember, at the base of Maslow’s pyramid are the absolute essentials: food, water, shelter. Those must come first before anyone can worry about anything else, let alone professional growth, innovation, or job satisfaction. If someone is stressed about making rent, drowning in debt, facing health issues against lousy benefits, how can they possibly focus 100% on their job? Especially when that job most likely requires wearing multiple hats without additional compensation.
And no, we’re not about to debate whether money buys happiness. By itself? No. But it sure moves the dial in a positive direction when people aren’t consumed by financial stress.
And, no, we’re not going to talk about $75,000 a year as the magic number either.
Corporate Greed Is Destroying Us
My former colleague, who jumped to move deck chairs, was one in a million, but they also had no financial worries. Their basic needs were met, they felt secure, and they had the time and energy to dedicate themselves fully to the workplace. That’s not to say they didn’t have frustrations, but survival was never a daily concern. They were comfortably retired and worked part-time for extra spending money, something to fill a few hours a week.
For many others, though, it’s not laziness that leads to exhaustion and disengagement, it’s the wear and tear of survival mode.
Now, think about the Titanic. Not the 1997 love story (though it makes for great memes), but the real-life disaster: The White Star Line failed to provide enough lifeboats, second- and third-class passengers were locked away from safety, and iceberg warnings were ignored to keep the voyage on schedule. The result? Catastrophe.
Now, apply that to the workplace. Companies create class systems, demanding more work with fewer resources from those at the bottom while ignoring the warning signs of burnout. They push employees to “just keep going” instead of adjusting course. All under a culture obsessed with looking busy and being busy until death.
Produce! Produce! Produce! Die!
It’s a recipe for disaster—one that America loves to keep cooking!
According to a 2023 Gallup study, 62 percent of global workers are not engaged with their work and workplace. That same year for just American workers, it was 50 percent.
Is it surprising workers are disengaged? How can anyone stay motivated when their hard work only benefits those at the top? Why follow through when the rewards aren’t there and those at the bottom are left to drown? That classic champagne talent on a beer wage. The modern workplace demanding more for less: longer hours, higher expectations, and endless pressure, all without fair pay or adequate support.
And understand this: A lack of engagement, the necessary follow-through doesn’t just impact individuals, it creates a domino effect. One burned-out, disengaged employee struggling to keep up forces their team to pick up the slack, fueling resentment and even more burnout.
So, how do we fix it? What do we do when everyone is burned out, stressed, and unable to follow through?
The Assumption We Are Unsinkable
Honestly, I don’t think we can fix it. We came so close during the Covid-19 pandemic, when society seemed to briefly reconsider priorities and values. For a moment, we were forced to acknowledge the importance of workers, the ridiculousness of hustle culture, and the value of well-being over profits. However, that was a fleeting moment. Greed won in the end. In fact, greed has taken over any sense of responsibility to the overall well-being of the community as a whole.
In short, I think we’re screwed. Call it what you want—the straw breaking the camel’s back, the tipping point, the last nail in the coffin, or a bridge too far—but we are nearing the breaking point. We’ve hit the iceberg. The warning signs are clanging, but the choice has been made to ignore it, dismissing it as a minor inconvenience, too small to truly derail us. The powers-that-be have arrogantly assumed that the system cannot sink. For some reason believing we will simply keep afloat by force of habit, thoughts and prayers, perhaps the sheer will of the status quo. But here we are, teetering into the inevitable. Not unless someone (a whole lot of someone with authority) realize that the prevailing stagnant wage and that pathetic dollar amount they call minimum wage does not make for survival.
So, as the metaphorical ship takes on water, the lifeboats are already gone. The elites have taken far more than their share, securing their safety, while the rest of us are left to fend for ourselves. There’s no one left at the top making meaningful decisions that benefit anyone other than themselves. And, yet, still have the audacity to wonder why the poor grow in numbers. Why they exist, at all.
No, the elite will draw the last bit of blood from us turnips, leaving nothing but the empty shell of a workforce. There’s no more energy to give, no more faith in systems that promise better days but only deliver more of the same.
I think the Titanic is going to sink. Unless the top wakes up—really wakes up—and realizes that there’s no one left to follow through. There’s no one left to pick up the pieces or push the ship toward safer shores. The ship is going down because the rising tide of greed is lifting all the yachts instead.
The sad truth is so many of us won’t even notice, of course, because the elites have done a smashing job in turning us against one another. The pointless maneuvering of the deck chairs called the culture wars. The pandemic showcased this to an astounding degree.
Whew!
Am I talking about just the working world in this article? Sadly, no.
The problem is that greed filters into everything, it is expanding at an alarming rate. Once people get what they need, once they achieve the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid and begin to climb, something extraordinary begins to happen.
Research indicates that individuals who achieve higher levels of financial well-being may develop attitudes that overlook systemic challenges faced by less affluent groups. For instance, approximately 50 percent of more affluent individuals believe that the poor are not doing enough to help themselves, reflecting that classic (and one of my least favorite sayings) “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” mentality.
And while it isn’t always spoken about, there are side-effects to having our needs more than fully met:
Who do you think has more empathy? The rich or poor.
Who do you think cheats on their taxes more? The rich or poor.
Who is better at reading emotions? The rich or poor.
Now, I’m not here saying one group is superior. However, something happens along the way to prosperity and the insatiableness of greed.
So when the Titanic that is our society tanks from the weight of all that greed, when the wreckage is picked apart, (deck chairs not even given a passing glance) all that will be left is the uncomfortable truth that we allowed it to happen. We will wonder exactly what or who for?
What do you think?
Until next time, my friends—take your breaks, breathe, and be ready to lead.
Beth aka The Pushing Ink
Now for some humor
About me
I’ve held an interest in the broken world of work for as long as I can remember. I began my working adventures at age 12, delivering newspapers, and since then, it has been one head-scratching employment-lesson after the next.
While I initially returned to school late in life to be a divorce counselor, I switched it up to follow my genuine passion—fixing the broken world of work and pointing out the snobbery in jobs. I obtained a bachelor’s in Applied Psychology in 2014 (work psychology) and a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership in 2018.
With over two decades in and out of the newspaper business, covering the city beat along with court cases and more, plus multiple years in the broken nonprofit sector, I’m back with a new goal and path with Pushing Ink. It’s the namesake of one of my former newspaper columns, my passion project. Topics include leadership, eliminating student debt, mental health (particularly the tyranny of niceness and ending people-pleasing) gaming, books, and humor as much as possible and when possible.
Visit me at varied social media sites (minus the former bird app) under Pushing Ink.