>“This work-life harmony thing is what I try to teach young employees and actually senior executives at Amazon too. But especially the people coming in. I get asked about work-life balance all the time. And my view is, that’s a debilitating phrase because it implies there’s a strict trade-off. And the reality is, if I am happy at home, I come into the office with tremendous energy. And if I am happy at work, I come home with tremendous energy.
A lot of folks seem to read this (I think Bezos said something similar last year and there were dismissive reactions to that) and take it cynically, especially given Amazon's workplace culture reputation. But I think there's a lot of truth to this -- that if you are rejuvenated by your job, then that fulfillment spills over to your personal life, and vice versa. But it's an idealized situation that simply isn't really available to everyone, and to insinuate that one _must_ strive for such a harmonious situation is dangerous, because those high standards can in turn be toxic.
On the other hand, I think that the work-life balance strict tradeoff camp shouldn't be dismissed either, because to do so would imply that, if one does not love their job and feel rejuvinated by it, something is wrong with them. But frankly there seems to be a generally inverse relationship between the inherent enjoyability of a job and its material rewards, and so it's an entirely reasonable arrangement to have a "okay, thoroughly neutral job" and a great personal like that is enabled by your 9-5.
The key is that one be happy and satisfied with the arrangement, and that it be the right mix for each person.
>“It actually is a circle; it’s not a balance. And I think that is worth everybody paying attention to it. You never want to be that guy — and we all have a coworker who’s that person — who as soon as they come into a meeting they drain all the energy out of the room. You can just feel the energy go whoosh! You don’t want to be that guy. You want to come into the office and give everyone a kick in their step.”
This, I think is unilaterally true but actually independent from his first point.