There has been a lot of noise lately about “Quiet Quitting”.
It was coined lately by some disgruntled Gen Z who apparently, had enough of working too hard and decided to do the ‘bare minimum’ to get by.
That meant that he would not put in any extra effort, decline any work that is not in his scope, or simply stop working when he felt he was being ‘over-utilised’.
And the biggest surprise is that many are actually praising him for it!
Fed up with the ‘overwork’ culture, people are saying that this should be the way to achieve work-life balance.
I disagree wholeheartedly.
I think it’s childish, immature, and a sure-fire way to get yourself booted off the team.
What happened to good old values like “Let me do my best!” and “I’ll push myself beyond my limits”?
The truth is, if you had a worker or a staff member who thought and behaved in such a manner, telling you in your face “Too bad, I’m not doing that because it’s not my job” or “I’m gonna go slow on this because I think I’m overworked.”, you’d want to fire him/her too!
But putting my strong objections to such poor, over-entitled attitudes aside, I asked myself, are there any situations where such behaviour is warranted and justified?
And I have actually come up with 3 such scenarios where ‘Quiet Quitting’ might be a bona-fide strategy.
1. When you have already tendered your resignation
Indeed, if you have handed in your letter and are winding things down, this is a legitimate strategy to deploy.
There is probably no purpose in putting in any extra efforts into work or deals that you won’t be around to support or even take credit for.
In fact, you might even complicate things for whomever is going to take over as they were not consulted on your decisions.
So, if you have already quit and are counting down the days to exit, working your barest minimum would make sense.
2. When you’re feeling burnt out and it is a temporary measure to regain control
If you’re being piled on at work and the stacks of requests keep coming in like Lucille Ball’s classic ‘Conveyor Belt’ comedy sketch (see the Gif above), then this might be something for you to consider.
It’s about staving off the incoming work until you can sort out whatever you need to sort out. Sometimes, having to prioritise your action items is the only way to get yourself out of an overworked situation.
Alternatively, you might be feeling really swamped at work for quite a while and need a mental break. Just being able to say “No” to more work could be an empowering exercise and give you the time needed to catch your breath and get stronger.
3. Or if you’ve already had an adult conversation with your boss and have clearly determined the ‘terms of engagement’ with him.
Much as I disagree with the attitude, there is inherently nothing wrong about ‘not wanting to go beyond what is required’ for the job.
However, it is the petulant nature of which I see people go about ‘quiet quitting’, like as though it is the coolest, most passive-agressive way of ‘getting back at your evil bosses’ that alarms me.
If you really do feel that you are being unreasonably overworked on a very regular and long term basis, instead of basically ‘silently going on a strike’, you might want to have an adult conversation with your boss instead.
Share with him that the workload is untenable and they have to pay you more, or you simply won’t have the bandwidth to carry on the workload. If he refuses to reduce the workload or raise your salary, then ‘quiet quitting’ could be a fair option.
Always be transparent and give your bosses a chance to negotiate, otherwise minsunderstandings will happen and they will start to think the worst of you.
I hate the term “Quiet Quitting“… it’s as ridiculous a made-up word as “Food Coma” or “Blame-storming” and in it’s purest form and intention, should actually be renamed ‘Slacking off’ instead.
However, doing your barest minimum has it’s place as a work-strategy and should only be deployed carefully.
If you want to accelerate your career and bring it to the next level, never ‘Quiet Quit’.
Put in more work than expected, strive for more achievements than expected, and demonstrate you are ready and worthy of the next big role ahead!
Or you will soon be Noisily Fired.