Why has work become so hard to navigate? An examination of what’s driving it.

Rather than predicting the future, this report analyzes present-day signals already shaping organizational life, including:

• Persistent contradictions in roles, expectations, and incentives 
• Rising cognitive and emotional load without corresponding support 
• Adaptation demands that quietly exceed human capacity 
• Performance cultures that look functional but feel misaligned 
• A widening gap between organizational pace and human sense-making
• How our adaptation brilliance is an Adaptation Trap, keeping people and organizations stuck.  

Most workplace trend reports are written to sound impressive.

This one is written to be readable.

The Workplace Absurdities Report is practical, pattern-based, and designed to be worked with not just skimmed or cited. It focuses on what people are actually experiencing day to day and connects those experiences to the larger system dynamics shaping them.

You won’t find predictions, prescriptions, or abstract frameworks detached from reality. Instead, the report offers clear language, grounded examples, and recognizable patterns that help readers make sense of what already feels confusing at work.

This report is written for:

• Leaders sensing that “something is off” but struggling to name it 
• Practitioners working inside change, culture, or transformation roles 
• Organizations noticing rising friction, fatigue, or disengagement despite good intentions
   

If you are looking for tools, this report may frustrate you.
If you are looking for clarity, it will likely resonate.

The Workplace Absurdities Report sits alongside ongoing investigations, essays, and the book in progress, RECLAIM: Finding Your Bearings in a Contradictory Workplace (working subtitle). Together, this work explores how modern work environments have become harder to orient inside — and why capable humans are not failing, even when systems feel increasingly brittle.

The Workplace Absurdities Report 2026 will be released January 20.

Subscribers receive early access, updates, and follow-on insights as the investigation continues.