A disturbing subject: the #MeToo of the workplace...

For #MeToo, once the omertà broke, the public ended up expressing outrage at those who knew and said nothing.

At those who saw, who heard, and who chose silence.

It shed light on both individual and collective responsibility in personal suffering, in the exploitation of human vulnerabilities, and in subjugation.

Because at stake—especially in the world of cinema—it wasn’t only intolerable physical and psychological abuse, it was tied to the risk of losing everything: a career, a reputation.

👉 In business, do you think these stakes and dynamics are any different?

You are gravely mistaken.

Inside companies, the same mechanism repeats itself:
Many see it.
Many feel it.
Many know it.

And yet, everyone stays silent.

It’s not just about the recurring meeting scheduled at 6 p.m.
Nor about the 8 p.m. office drinks, where you’re expected to show up despite other responsibilities, because not showing up would be frowned upon.

It’s about an entire system disguised by workplace health and well-being policies, one that pushes productivity to the extreme—where exhaustion becomes normalized, and over-investment and constant presence morph into a collective sub-culture.

This is not ignorance. This is a choice.

A choice to keep benefitting from the commitment of others, even when it destroys them.
A choice not to speak up, not to call it out, not to protect each other.

Because speaking up would be “badly perceived,” not “benevolent” (ironically), almost toxic—seen as spoiling the atmosphere. If nobody speaks and everybody complies, the one who refuses becomes the black sheep.

👉 Max-out is the silent #MeToo of the workplace.

It is not a scandal of sexual abuse, but a scandal of organizational abuse: exploiting commitment, hijacking fulfillment, turning over-investment into a norm. And then presenting all of it as a social ideal. If you can’t keep up, you’ve failed at life. You know, the Rolex story.

The problem is not only the individual who burns out.
It’s the collective that keeps applauding, encouraging, and profiting from this false success—while fully knowing the cost.

💡 The real question: when will you break the omertà?
When will we stop this complicit applause?

Silence protects the system.
Lucidity protects people.