When I worked overseas, I was able to put what I learned into practice in ways that mattered. The work was balanced, the teams functioned as teams, and everyone had a role to play.
If you were good at what you did, you were respected — but you weren’t overloaded just to keep others comfortable. Of course, there were always exceptions — nothing is perfect — but as a general rule, it was better.
Of course, there were always exceptions — nothing is perfect — but as a general rule, it was better.
The “Best Worker” Trap
Back home, I’ve noticed a very different pattern. Managers often take the one or two strongest technicians and pile all the work onto them.
It’s not because they want to build skill in those people or because it’s the best long-term strategy. It’s because it makes life easier for management.
At first glance, it can even look like a compliment:
“You’re our best guy, so we need you to handle this.”
- Skill bottleneck – All the knowledge and workload get trapped in one person.
- Stunted growth – Other technicians never get the chance to step up and learn.
- Avoidance culture – Managers hide from real problems instead of facing them.
- Resentment and burnout – The overloaded worker feels used and undervalued.
Spotting the Pattern
The warning signs of this culture are easy to see:
- The same names appear on every work order and emergency call.
- Team effort” only exists on paper.
- Training keeps getting postponed “until things slow down.
- Good workers start saying less and working more.
Respect
Respect isn’t about giving someone more work — it’s about giving them balance.
The Root Cause
It all comes back to the same problem: management avoiding responsibility. They don’t build systems that support workers or step in to organize the ones already in place.
Instead, they wait until failure hits, then drop the burden back on the one person they know will always answer the call.
The truth is that good workers don’t burn out from work.
They burn out from being the only ones who care.
I go deeper into this subject in my book Burned Out by Design — free copy available here.
