Don't Live as Someone Else's Robot! A Story from the Halls of Google About the "Professionalism" Trap
One day, while I was working at Google here in Dublin, management suddenly decided to conduct a "Quality Review." They assigned a colleague to set standards and rules dictating how our emails and communication with clients should be. These clients weren't just numbers; they were people actually making a living through Google—YouTubers, blog owners, creators, and the like.
To kick off this plan, they decided to start with me to evaluate my work. To be honest, the company used to give us a lot of freedom to act as we saw fit, which was one of the absolute best perks (alongside the free food, the gym, and all that). But suddenly, they wanted to enforce strict molds and standards.
"You're Too Emotional... Be Professional!"
Even though I was the person hitting the highest customer satisfaction scores across all Google offices—not just in Ireland, but in Europe, the US, and Japan, across the ads department—and my satisfaction rate was consistently between 95% and 98% after hundreds of interactions with our clients, a surprise was waiting for me.
The employee who set these new standards (pulling them out of thin air, of course) considered me the absolute worst at following them! She gave me a few notes, but the one that really caught my attention and apparently tanked my rating was: "You're too emotional in your replies and dealings with clients... take a step back and drop the emotion."
In other words, she was saying: "Keep it professional, keep it together, and enough with the mushiness, feelings, and empathy." She didn't say it exactly like that, but I’m translating what was going on in her head, and unfortunately, in the minds of many Western corporate systems. They want people dead inside... robots ticking away with strictness, without any real human element. You're not allowed to act spontaneously or show how you really feel. They even want to box "feelings" into specific policies and guidelines, rather than letting you actually feel them!
The Moment I Decided to Walk Away
That employee—who only got that responsibility because of her seniority—didn't realize that my spontaneous style, my emotion, and my genuine understanding of the clients were the exact reasons I topped the ratings and won their trust (way more than she ever did).
Since that moment, I was triggered. I realized I didn't want to be part of all these corporate machines, and I slowly started pulling away from traditional employment, even if it was with the best companies in the world. My freedom, my feelings, and being "me" are way too precious to sacrifice just to become a robot or an obedient pawn working for someone else, no matter the price!
The System's Problem with "The Heart"
I wanted to share this little story to make a point: The world, East and West, has a real problem with the "heart"! Systems always prioritize the mind and rigid molds at the expense of genuine feelings and true empathy for others.
Why? Because love and feeling can shatter all molds in a single second! In a moment of honesty, a real connection can be built between you and someone else, even if you come from completely different backgrounds, opposing cultures, or even hostile countries.
All systems melt away the moment genuine, sincere love and feeling show up! And this is highly frowned upon by the "Matrix" and mainstream programming, because it holds a kind of hidden rebellion, liberation, and individuality. The system knows the power of the heart, and it knows that if it wakes up, no system in the world can stand in its way—and that threatens its very existence and control.
How They Turn You Into a "Puppet"
That’s why these systems, wherever they exist—in companies, countries, or even within a family—try to suppress the human being from the very beginning. They scare you, threaten you, and reject you so you end up hating yourself and losing your self-confidence. The result? It becomes much easier to enslave and lead you. Simply put, you become a puppet and a tool in someone else's hands!
Of course, they won't tell you this directly. They won't say: "Be a slave, do as you're told, and shut up even if our policies are stupid." Instead, they wrap it in fancy corporate jargon: "Follow quality standards, be professional, be a team player who sacrifices themselves for the group"... and all that nonsense.
And then, if you successfully strip away your individuality and personality and put them to the side, they might just graciously bless you with a promotion.
My Message to You: Seek What's Real
My message is the exact opposite! Don't sacrifice your humanity, and screw being "professional" if the price is your soul. Stay real, keep your feelings front and center, and you will do the right thing despite the biggest system! Because feeling is the most precious thing we have; it is far more important than any artificial system or professionalism.
In reality, all these rigid standards originally stem from natural human feelings, but unfortunately, they turned them into cold, hard laws instead of encouraging people to practice them spontaneously and with understanding. That’s how the soul is killed, and how creativity and passion slowly fade away.
So I’m telling you: Look for the original!
Don't do anything fake just to look nice and polite on the outside, because that is the definition of corruption. Systems are supposed to exist to serve our hearts and feelings so we can live a beautiful experience, not the other way around! Otherwise, it’s just massive injustice masked by grand slogans that benefit no one—where the system lives, and the individual dies for nothing.
We're in the AI Era... Don't Compete with the Machine!
In the era of AI, tech, and social media, we are in desperate need of our hearts and our genuine, spontaneous feelings!
If you lose your feeling, you'll simply find yourself competing with the very AI and robots these companies are building to replace you. At that point, not only will you have lost your heart and sense of life, but you'll also become a "second-rate robot," because you'll never be able to out-robot the technology, no matter how much you fake it or bend over backwards.
So do yourself a favor: stay human, with all your flaws and imperfections. And I’ll be right there with you, even if no one else accepts you.