The Architecture of Respect: Why Your "Quick Message" is Sabotaging Company Culture
That Slack message at 7:30 am isn't just a notification; it's a cortisol spike. Here is how to build a culture that respects the nervous system, protects focus, and empowers high performance.
You know the feeling.
It is 7:30 am. You are perhaps in the middle of a school run, or maybe you are protecting that first hour of the day for a workout—building the physical resilience we talk about so often here.
Then, the phone buzzes.
It is a Slack message from a colleague. Or perhaps an email from a senior leader. It isn't an emergency, but the content is heavy. They are asking for an update on a project, or they have just had a "brainwave" and need you to execute it.
Work doesn't officially start until 9:00 am.
In that singular moment, your cortisol spikes. Your focus shifts from your personal wellbeing—your foundation—to their agenda. You haven't even sat at your desk yet, but you are already on the back foot.
This is not just an annoyance; it is a cultural fracture.
We often talk about culture as if it is a list of values painted on an office wall—"Integrity," "Innovation," "Teamwork." But culture is not what you write on the walls; it is how you behave in the gaps between meetings. It is the unspoken agreement of how we treat each other’s time, energy, and nervous systems.
In the modern workplace, boundaries have become porous. Technology, which promised to liberate us, has tethered us to a 24-hour cycle of accessibility. For the high performer, this is draining. For the neurodivergent mind, it can be debilitating.
If we want to raise the bar on performance, we must first raise the standard of respect. We need to talk about the architecture of our interactions.
