Workslop isn't a problem worth worrying about
Every week I read a new article complaining about workslop and how it’s ruining the workplace, but IMO this is missing the forest for the trees. Worrying about an entire org “using AI properly” is a massive trap because this assumes productivity is a flat line where everyone moves up 10% together.
I just don’t think that’s how things will work in the future. For most companies, massive step changes in productivity will likely be driven by a small number of hyper-productive-and-capable superstars who figure out how to get maximum leverage from the emerging toolchain. Big is no longer better.
80% of people using AI are using Gemini or ChatGPT to polish their emails or generate “docu-slop” that fills the void of a 40-hour work week. Then you’ve got the 20%, the ones building systems and new ways of working that make them infinitely more productive than their colleagues.
The “workslop” crew is just hitting the “make this sound professional” button because they’re (still) playing the game of appearing productive. But from my vantage point, the power law/10x users aren’t worried about the appearance of work, they’re focused on leverage.
The mistake is trying to “fix” the slop. It’s a waste of energy. You will likely never train away the desire to look busy in a system that rewards busyness.
Instead, the only move that matters is identifying that top 20% of power users and figuring out how to institutionalise what they’re doing. If one person has figured out how to use agents, models, skills and a harness to do the work of five people, the goal isn’t to get the other four to use AI. It’s to turn that one person’s workflow into a repeatable system for the whole company.
The workslop is just the sound of the old world dying. Ignore the em-dashes and go find and promote the people building the work-systems of the future.
