The Strategic Power of Professional Pronking
Well-Informed & Open-Minded · HS
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Show Notes
In the wild, animals sometimes engage in “stotting”—a dramatic, energy-wasting leap performed in full view of predators to prove strength and fitness. That same logic shows up in the modern workplace, where intentionally inefficient acts—like a handwritten note or undivided attention in a meeting—can signal care and commitment in ways optimized, automated communication cannot. As artificial intelligence makes professional output faster and more generic, visible human effort becomes a rarer and more valuable marker of trust. In this episode, we explore why, in an age obsessed with efficiency, wasting time might be the ultimate signal of sincerity.
https://www.economist.com/business/2026/02/19/the-case-for-workplace-inefficiency