More Answers... (6/22/25 Newsletter): Wow It's HOT!!! (and if you can't take the heat...)

The "More Answers..." Newsletter

Hi Everyone,

Here's the blog version of the Sunday Evening "More Answers..." to get a friendly boost to setup your work week! 

Remember to sign up for the newsletter for bonus material!! (https://www.askchrista.com/newsletter/) 

It's HOT around the world, and "if you can't take the heat..."

Do people still use that phrase? "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen?"

That phrase, largely accepted as coming from President Harry Truman (Martin, 2023), was one I heard a lot growing up. It wasn't from my parents; it was usually from a well-meaning uncle (I had fun-loving uncles and a dozen Great Uncles on my dad's Risola-Cavicchio side, so I know for sure they were well-meaning!).

But given how hot it's been lately-- everywhere (World Temperatures —Weather Around the World, n.d.)-- and the pressures so many people are feeling, I'm thinking more and more about that phrase and how unhelpful it is.

We need a new phrase. Maybe: "If you can't take the heat, chances are no one else can either; it's time to fix the temperature."

Yes, yes, I know-- doesn't have the same ring to it... kinda long... but we can shorten it: If you can't take the heat, fix the temperature.

You Can't Take the Pressure-- Let Someone Else Do It...

I recognize the historical context of what Truman meant when he first coined the phrase, and I know he gave many other quotes still known and used today (Truman Library Institute, 2022), but when I think about what the whole "if you can't take the heat..." phrase means in the context of 2025, the foundation of the phrase focuses on what so many assume to be the root of work issues: the people.

The phrase is about feeling pressure. In today's world, pressure is everywhere, all the time. Although certainly connected with management, it’s most often tied to the broader work environment and its varying constraints (hours, setting of work, tools to do your job, formation of your team, lack of resources, lack of management support...).

Sure, people feel pressure to meet a deadline, but that pressure hits a breathtaking order of magnitude when employees do not have appropriate tools, resources, and team competencies to complete tasks on time no matter how many hours they work, which goes well past the 40-hour workweek cap that a 1938 USA bill included as part of what was passed as law(details below).

Pressure Is About Productivity, Not Personality...

Lacking appropriate resources, time, tools, competent team members (as in whether they have technical skill for the work)-- those are all different pressures that almost everyone is experiencing-- and boards and leadership alike are forgetting a major rule to business success: business environments directly impact employee productivity (Zhenjing et al., 2022).

Some may argue that the people shape the environment which in turn shapes people-- hello "Loop Of... policies, norms, and culture"-- but here is where the phrase "it starts at the top" matters, and this is why I fall on the side of how environments shape the behavior of people.

(not to mention that most employees do not place a deliberate consideration of how they might shape their work environment, and most leaders don't either, so not much is done to FIX work environments...)

Those of us who've worked in the trenches, the muck, and the mire pulling companies out from crisis and getting them into recovery programs-- as I call them-- know very well the impact a work environment has on employees, even without looking at the research... although plenty of research exists (Does Work Environment Affect Productivity - Google Search, n.d.).

It's not about whether the person or personality can take the pressure, it’s whether the environment is setting up the employees to feel so much of it that their productivity declines.

1942 Work vs 2025 Work: At-Risk Productivity

If we pan away from the 1942 vernacular of the "If you can't take the heat..."phrase and place it into the 2025 reality, you're setting up for a losing situation-- for the employee AND for the company. You're essentially saying, "Move over-- someone who CAN take the pressure will do it in your place."

But in reality, if it's THAT HOT, someone else probably won't be able to do it either, whatever that "it" is-- at least, they won't sustain it. This is true even when CEOs are replaced, and that's a high-stake replacement that so often does not consider how the environment needs to change, too. (serial CEO changes are often because the environment is the issue)

In the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, one of the key pieces of legislation-- among so many other key pieces to boost the middle class-- was a 40-hour work week cap. Obviously, that's not where we are today, and part of that is because most employees have a "management" status, which does not require the 40-hour cap... most are also on salary, which often means “stay until the work is done."

As a result, especially in scarcity environments where the pressure typically feels very high, you see productivity decline.

BOOSTER FOR YOUR WEEK: ADJUST THE TEMPERATURE!!

Tonight I'm asking you to put Truman's phrase to the test: Are you willing to stay in the hot kitchen?

If your answer is YES and it's because you can take it, then BRAVO! /BRAVA! and be sure to protect that environment AND your boundaries. You are likely "in flow," feel productive, and have the satisfaction and metrics to show for it.

If your answer is anything BUT yes, and in the past you felt you couldn’t take the heat (pressure) because of your personality, I want you to challenge whether it's your personality-- which it might be, so be honest about that-- or the environment, or maybe a bit of both, and determine how you can adjust the temperature.

Sometimes it means seeing if you can move to a different team with less of a constant influx of work, or determining if there is a more efficient (less wasteful) way to work, or whether your interests have changed and you’ve outgrown your job and team vs whether it simply isn't (or maybe never was)a fit.

We can all impact our work more than we think we can, even when the economy and job prospects are as tight as they are right now (at least in the USA).

So... the next time you feel like you can't take the heat, instead of getting out of the kitchen, adjust the temperature.

(Don't forget: if you have a business challenge or workplace issue-- Ask Christa!)

See you next week!!!

With kindness,
Christa

(Helpful? Interesting? Please forward and ask others to subscribe! https://www.askchrista.com/newsletter/)

REFERENCES

does work environment affect productivity - Google Search. (n.d.). https://www.google.com/search?q=does+work+environment+affect+productivity

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum struggle for a minimum wage.(n.d.). DOL. https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/flsa1938 

Martin, G. (2023, December 20). If You Can't Stand The Heat, Get Out OfThe Kitchen - Meaning & Origin Of The Phrase. Phrase Finder. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/get-out-of-the-kitchen.html 

Truman Library Institute. (2022, November 29). Truman Quotes - Truman Library Institute. https://www.trumanlibraryinstitute.org/truman/truman-quotes/...

World Temperatures — Weather around the world. (n.d.). https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/ 

Zhenjing, G., Chupradit, S., Ku, K. Y., Nassani, A. A., & Haffar, M. (2022).Impact of Employees’ workplace environment on Employees’ performance:A Multi-Mediation Model. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.890400/full