The Toxic Status Quo is no Longer Tolerable

The Toxic Waste Workgroup and I have been meeting for the better part of a year, puzzling out what creates toxic working environments and how to, if not solve them, at least mitigate them.

Toxicity comes from humble origins: Unrealistic deadline. The underspecified work instigating inevitable churn. The communication breakdown eroding psychological safety. These toxic forces undermine our best efforts, sapping motivation and creative energy while normalizing a dysfunctional status quo.

We all tend to ignore it, falling back on simply coping, treating toxicity as an inevitability to stoically endure. But what if we could do better than merely surviving and instead, intentionally cultivate environments optimized for human beings?

What if we had a "Right Environment" nurturing agency, confident professionalism, and sustainable progress across all levels?

The path begins by seeing ingrained toxicity patterns frequently mistaken as "just how things are." By visualizing flows congested with rework and ugly constraint points breeding disillusionment, we can collaboratively map sources of toxicity choking healthy delivery and see our way clear to fix them.

We can see the root causes. From there, we create new ways of working tailored to our unique cultural context - rewiring systems to provide clear situational awareness and allowing professionals to act with confidence.

This is no quick fix, but an ongoing practice of progress. That's why we built the Toxic Waste "class" to be more of a conversation. It's an immersive learning experience blending video lessons, practical models, and an engaged global community. Through monthly facilitated sessions, professionals across industries unite to vulnerably explore toxic roadblocks, workshop potential solutions, and provide mutual accountability for effecting lasting change.

It's been amazing working with people globally who want to make work better for everyone. And we are not done yet. Please, join us in nurturing an authentically humane way of working - one fostering the creativity and committed action required to tackle our most personal and public challenges.