Can You Optimize People Without Treating Them Like Machines?

Leadership today often feels like a balancing act.

Organizations are expected to produce better results, move faster, adapt more quickly, and do more with fewer resources. At the same time, leaders are increasingly aware that burnout, disengagement, and unhealthy workplace cultures come at a tremendous cost.

So what happens when someone asks:

“Are you simply trying to optimize people for the benefit of the organization?”

That question sparked a very thought-provoking conversation on our team.

When “Optimize” Doesn’t Feel Right

At first glance, optimization sounds positive.

We optimize sleep.
We optimize our schedules.
We optimize technology.

But applying that same language to people can feel very different.

For Dr. Linda Schubring, the word immediately raised concerns about treating people like machines—resources to extract more productivity from rather than human beings with dignity, relationships, and lives outside of work.

The conversation quickly moved beyond semantics to something much more important: What are leaders actually trying to maximize?

Healthy Organizations Pursue a Double Bottom Line

Brian Schubring introduces the idea of a double bottom line.

Healthy organizations care deeply about business outcomes. Healthy organization also care deeply about people. These aren’t competing priorities necessarily, but hard to balance most of the time

So, organizations need to create environments where people can:

• Do meaningful work
• Feel known and understood
• Grow professionally
• Maintain healthy relationships outside of work
• Contribute without sacrificing their wellbeing

When leaders pursue only performance, people eventually burn out.

When leaders pursue only comfort, organizations lose direction.

Healthy leadership requires both.

Culture Is Measured Differently Than Performance

One of the most practical insights from this conversation is that performance and culture operate on different timelines. Business results can often be measured by quarterly goals, revenue, or productivity. But trust, belonging, and emotional health develop much more gradually. Healthy cultures aren’t built overnight—they grow through consistent leadership, clear expectations, and intentional investment in people. While culture may be harder to measure, it ultimately becomes the foundation that enables long-term performance.

As Brian describes, healthy cultures grow much more like a vineyard than a quarterly sales report.

The growth is gradual. Often invisible.

But over time it becomes the foundation that supports everything else.

What Leaders Can Do This Week

The episode ends with two practical challenges.

1. Think about your own double bottom line.

Ask yourself:

• How are we measuring performance?
• How are we measuring the health of our people?
• Are we investing in both?

2. Clarify expectations.

According to Linda, one of the greatest gifts leaders can give their teams is clarity. When people understand what success looks like—and why the organization is making certain decisions—they’re far more likely to remain engaged, even during difficult seasons.

Healthy leadership isn’t about demanding more. It’s about creating environments where people know what’s expected and have the support to do their best work.

Resources for Building Healthier Teams

If this conversation resonated with you, here are a few practical ways to continue developing a healthier team:

Explore Your Team’s Strengths

Understanding individual Strengths helps people contribute in ways that energize them instead of draining them.

Assess Your Team Culture

Healthy teams don’t happen by accident. Regular conversations around healthy communication, trust, conflict, and alignment can reveal opportunities for growth before problems become crises.

Invest in Leadership Development

Culture almost always reflects leadership. Helping leaders become more emotionally healthy, self-aware, and intentional creates ripple effects throughout an organization.

Have the Conversation

At your next leadership meeting, ask:

What are we optimizing for?

The answers may reveal more about your culture than your metrics ever could.

Question?

We would love to hear about how you are trying to build healthy team culture. Connect with me at nathan@leadershipvisionconsulting.com.