Empowerment Is a Lie: History, Hollow Workdays & Depleted Org Resources

About this episode

In this episode, Jenni Field and Chuck Gose cover four stories that together paint a picture of organisations still struggling to align how work is designed with what work actually demands — from the disappearing nine-to-five to a 150-year history that began not with leaders, but with employees.

The first story, from the Economic Times, examines how AI and hybrid work are accelerating the end of the traditional nine-to-five. The argument is that the modern workday has become a chain of reactions — meetings, approvals, message threads — rewarding responsiveness over reflection. As AI takes over repetitive execution, the real competitive advantage shifts to judgment and creativity. Jenni and Chuck discuss why leaders are still measuring input rather than output, and why the shift from presence to performance has been so slow to take hold. Chuck challenges the multitasking myth head-on: busy is not productive, and neither is bragging about it.

The second story uses the Colorado River as a lens on how organisations quietly hollow themselves out. With Lake Powell at approximately 24% capacity and Lake Mead at approximately 32%, the seven affected states still cannot agree on new operating rules — a textbook case of what economists call the tragedy of the commons, where every actor optimises for their own benefit while the shared resource collapses. Jenni and Chuck draw direct parallels to organisational life: talent pipelines, team capacity, and market trust all get depleted the same way, one rational individual decision at a time. The fix, they argue, requires leaders to think at system level, not just team level.

The third story, from Fast Company, takes aim at the word empowerment itself, arguing it is simply dependence with better branding. When every meaningful decision still runs through a gauntlet of approvals and sign-offs, the language of freedom masks a system of control. The authors distinguish between giving people responsibility for outcomes while retaining authorship over the decision-making path — and that gap is where genuine ownership breaks down. 

The final story comes directly from Jenni's attendance at the History of Internal Communications Conference, hosted at Brunel University in London by Professor Michael Heller. What struck Jenni most was that internal communications didn't begin with leaders deciding their people needed to hear from them — it began with employees wanting to connect with each other. The first internal magazine appeared in 1878, and by the 1930s almost every large-scale organisation had a company journal, but it was rooted in social connection, education, and community. The history, they argue, should inform who we think communications is actually for.

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Want to find out more about Chuck’s work and ICology - check out the website and how to become a member here: https://www.joinicology.com/ 

Jenni’s a regular speaker and consultant on leadership credibility and internal communication, you can find out more about how to learn from her and work with her here: https://thejennifield.com/

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Articles mentioned in this episode: 

• The end of 9-5: how ai and hybrid work are transforming enterprise culture
  
• The Colorado river story
  
• Why empowerment is a management lie
  
• History of internal comms conference
  
• The value of internal communication - Jenni’s speech from The history of internal comms conference
  
• Comms Reboot Toronto tickets - use the code Monkey25 for a 25% discount!