## Metadata - Author: [[John Cutler]] - Full Title:: TBM 429: How to Thrive at Work When You Think Too Much - Category:: #🗞️Articles - URL:: https://cutlefish.substack.com/p/tbm-429-how-to-thrive-at-work-when - Read date:: [[2026-07-07]] ## Highlights > how much of this is mine to work on, how much is just the game, and can I tell the difference before it eats me alive and I do/say something that I’ll regret. > Put another way: What path do I take to thrive? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kwxfrx9x8hsx95m5jktavc33)) > It might even mean recognizing that you’re drawn to situations that aren’t healthy for you, where you’ll hear the same feedback again and again, because you respond to it the same way each time. Psychologists call that a repetition compulsion: returning to a familiar pattern even when it hurts. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kwxfsvyj9h2h3c3f2sww5mj3)) > If you love what you do and want to keep doing it, you’ll need to figure out how to detach from using the workplace as a proving ground for your worth. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kwxftf4z9kxf24nb08qre0xn)) > Max Weber showed that modern companies are built around roles, not whole people. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kwxfwpppxs0mhgd3ajrbrzwx)) > Jeffrey Pfeffer has shown that getting ahead in organizations is closely linked to self-promotion, political skill, and a willingness to make others uncomfortable. Not with being right. Not with being helpful. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kwxfxdh3jne8m5q9ymg82wqd)) > Political skill predicts career advancement more reliably than job performance alone (Ferris et al.; Munyon et al. meta-analysis). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kwxfz58bs1zssfx2kwqjazph)) [[sin machirulos hay paraiso. una charla heterofriendly sobre management]] > Overconfident individuals attain higher social status, even when peers can see the overconfidence (Anderson, Brion, Moore & Kennedy, 2012). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kwxfzj8b8fhccsgpmw0f06sr)) > If what you’re doing isn’t having the effect you care about, you’ll need to change something. Not because you’re wrong. Not because they’re right. Because the effect is the thing, and the effect is what you can actually work with. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kwxg4z5y4pnyd4n7ez3gyh6k)) > focus on what works. Let go of being right. Act as skillfully as you can to meet your goals in this situation. Not “pretend it doesn’t hurt.” Not “they were right all along.” Just: given what you actually want, what’s the move that gets you there? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kwxg5x4ca6yhzhszy054j89g))