Fear of inadequacy is alive and well in the office

Afraid of getting fired? Here's how to ease your fears. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a hardworking, high-achieving newsletter that is driven by fears of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Work]( is not an extreme sport. - Google was forced to [abort](. - Don’t [blame]( the Supreme Court. - The sun is [baking]( us like a torte. The Fear of Being Fired No one should have to work on Leap Day. Like, I’m half-tempted to get out of my ergonomic desk chair, leave this newsletter blank and go home. The only thing keeping me from doing that is fear: not that I might get poisoned by an [evil chocolate maker]( that lives in the walls, necessarily, though that is a [distinct possibility](, but that I would get fired. Fear is a powerful motivator. That’s the whole point of Sarah Green Carmichael’s [column]( today. Whether it’s a fear of being replaced by AI or of returning to the office full-time, more and more people are [stressed]( and [anxious]( about work. And the dirty little secret? That’s just how employers like it. Sarah says elite companies are intentionally recruiting and hiring “[insecure overachievers](,” a phrase that talent professionals use to describe hardworking, high-achieving people who are driven by [fears of inadequacy](. The cookie-cutter formula for The Perfect Employee is often what you see vaguely defined in most job descriptions: They want a “detail-oriented self-starter” who is “not afraid to take risks.” Someone who “thrives in a fast-paced environment” and has a “demonstrated track record of problem-solving.” Oh, and they also need to be “open to occasional evenings and weekends as needed to ensure project success and team collaboration.” “If you fall into this camp, you may already be recognizing yourself,” Sarah writes. “Maybe you get glowing performance ratings yet worry you’re about to be fired. Maybe you think your family’s affection or approval hinges on your success. Maybe you feel the need to overdeliver to justify how much you bill for each six-minute increment. Maybe people tell you to ‘lower your standards’ or ‘remember what’s most important.’ And maybe burnout is starting to feel like a way of life.” On LinkedIn today, I [shared]( Sarah’s column with the status, “Never have I ever felt so called out before.” And you know what? Immediately after I posted it, I FELT INSECURE! What would people think of me? Would they laugh at my post? Would they call me a coward? And I asked myself these questions while knowing that very few people would read the post — it’s [LinkedIn](, after all. Even so: The fear of inadequacy was alive and well in my brain. “It can be hard to tell where company culture ends and [our own choices begin](,” Sarah writes. If you’ve ever joined a Zoom call in the middle of a family vacation or in the middle of the night, that’s probably a choice you made of your own volition. And it’s a mindset that, I would argue, takes root in college. Just the other day, a Reneé Rap concert-goer was [caught]( with her iPad in the crowd because she had to hand in a school assignment. And I’ve seen New Yorkers standing outside restaurants with a laptop, trying to perfect a PowerPoint. “Instead of praising employees who overdeliver, managers should point out when a color-coded spreadsheet or a 100-slide PowerPoint was a poor use of precious time,” Sarah argues. Speaking of precious time: This morning, one of my colleagues joked that the “insecure overachievers” are probably wishing for a February 30th. At least I’m not that delusional. A Rushed Job In case you missed Elon Musk’s [150+ tweets]( about it, Google has a secret vendetta against White people! Or that’s what he wants you to believe, at least. The Tesla CEO [called]( Google’s new chatbot Gemini “insane,” “racist” and “anti-civilizational” after it started to spit out images of female popes, Black Vikings, indigenous founding fathers and other [concerning things](: Although Google has since [apologized and paused]( the feature, people are still apoplectic over the “woke” technology. Yet any diagnosis that Google is suffering from some kind of corporate woke mind virus is incorrect. “In reality, the issue is that the company did a shoddy job overcorrecting on tech that [used to skew racist](,” Parmy Olson [writes](. In 2021, the search engine’s photo-tagging tool started [mislabeling]( Black people as apes. Obviously, this was bad. Google shut down that feature and [fired]( some people for the blunder. Fast-forward to today, and Gemini is cranking out images of World War II German soldiers who are Black and Asian. Also not a good look! And it got people speculating that Google’s woke ethics team is running its AI. In reality, Parmy says, it’s the opposite: That team is being [being ignored]( in an attempt to beat [Microsoft and OpenAI](’s generative web search efforts. And Google isn’t alone in its rushed job: Remember last year, when Microsoft’s wildly unhinged chatbot told a New York Times columnist that [it was in love with him](? Really, the lesson here is that Big Tech needs to slow down. Bonus You Need to Slow Down Reading: TikTok Shop is one of the scammiest e-commerce sites out there. [It’s an insult to users]( and hurts its business. — Dave Lee Against the Clock What’s the opposite of a rushed job? I humbly propose the case of former President Donald Trump’s immunity claim: - The case concerns conduct that happened on Jan. 6, 2021 - Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith on Nov. 18, 2022 - Smith’s team indicted Trump on Aug. 1, 2023 - The appellate court ruled that Trump is not immune on Feb. 6, 2024 - The Supreme Court will consider Trump’s case the week of April 22, 2024 The attack on the US Capitol was three years, one month and 24 days ago, yet it’s looking like a Supreme Court decision on Trump’s immunity won’t come until late June, and his trial would start after that (and possibly after the election). “It’s frustrating that the process is taking so long,” Noah Feldman [writes]( (free read). But as tempting as it may be to point your finger at the court and say, “What’s the holdup, SCOTUS?” Noah counsels against it. “It is the timing of the prosecution, not the Supreme Court’s calendar, that explains why the timeline is now so short to get Trump tried before Election Day.” Look at those bullet points above again. The Biden administration appointed Smith in the fall of 2022 — a year and 10 months after Jan. 6. That’s a substantially bigger gap than the three-ish month period between the appeals court decision and the Supreme Court’s late-April hearing. “It would be better, of course, if the court would rule expeditiously,” Noah writes. “But it’s not the court’s responsibility to speed up Trump’s trial.” That’s a lesson we all seem to be learning the hard way. Telltale Charts Each morning on my way to work, I walk by a park. In late January, there was a smattering of hot-pink roses in the dirt. Today, daffodils were in bloom. What happened to winter? Global warming, that’s what: Mark Gongloff [notes that]( this January was the [world’s warmest]( since at least 1850, and this February is [on track]( to follow suit. In Chicago, temperatures reached 74 degrees Fahrenheit this week. And in Texas, a [bizarre winter heat wave]( elevated temperatures to 100F. America is in the midst of a [snow drought](, with ski resorts shutting down in [Indiana]( and [golf courses]( opening in Wisconsin. Year-round flowers might be pretty, but this chart is not: Conor Sen has some [advice]( for homeowners: If you need to sell your house, it’s time to hustle. And if you’re looking to buy a house, Allison Schrager [says]( you should break up with your real estate agent. Before the internet, you couldn’t purchase a house without a real estate agent, just like you couldn’t buy a plane ticket without a travel agent. Now, you don’t really need either, since you can shop for flights and homes online. But the real transformation for real estate is yet to come. Allison argues: Last fall, a jury ruled that sellers in the US are no longer required to pay the buyers’ broker. So far, not much has changed. Eventually, she predicts, there will be less work and money for brokers because their services aren’t always required. Further Reading To help Ukraine, Europe needs to be [shell-stocked](. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Macy’s needs to get go of its [middle-class fantasy]( before it’s too late. — Leticia Miranda Bezos’ and Zuckerberg’s [stock sales]( shouldn't make investors jittery. — Jonathan Levin Is Hong Kong over? The answer lies [beyond]( stock prices. — Andy Mukherjee Happy talk alone won’t [revive confidence]( in the Chinese economy. — Minxin Pei This is the [surest sign yet]( that the Schultz era at Starbucks is officially over. — Beth Kowitt ICYMI Sicily doesn’t have [enough water]( to boil pasta. Brooklyn has a [sweatshop labor]( problem. The Kelce brothers hunt for a [massive podcast deal](. Kickers Chocolate makers try a new recipe: [less chocolate](. There’s nothing you can’t do with [Jell-O](. Charli XCX [put this author]( on notice. Get ready to be blessed with three new [Nicole Kidman ads](. The [Willy Wonka-Animal Crossing]( collab you didn’t know you needed. Notes: Please send Wonka Bars and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. 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