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In my work, I frequently observe teams whose purpose is to provide top-level service fall into frustration with their inability to deliver. With stress coming from a lack of support from their workplaces practices, communication, or training, I can empathize. Studies find that workplace burnout is at unprecedented levels, and with layoffs forcing workers to handle multiple roles, emotionally exhausted teams deserve support to carry on. With frustrated customers being redirected to apps, endless hold times, or inadequate self-service forums that can’t address complex problems, we need solid teams to help us with our customer-facing problems. When trapped in bureaucratic dysfunction, even high-performing teams feel defeated by their inability to create solutions. Despite advanced technologies, research shows employees spend significant time frustrated by organizational processes and policies that block their progress. And when customers experience these stall-outs, it translates to sinking loyalty and profits. Why Workplace Productivity Is Falling In fact, a recent study from Gallup found the average knowledge worker spends nearly 10 hours each week navigating internal processes and bureaucracy, which translates to 25% of their total workweek. Referred to as the productivity tax, these findings revealed that 77% of employees report differing levels of frustration with organizational barriers; only 23% feel organizational procedures support employee productivity. It’s not just employees that are discouraged. Larger enterprises lose up to $15 million annually per 1,000 employees due to process inefficiencies and bureaucratic friction. Thats not to mention the emotional tolls employees sufferlike spikes in anxiety and cortisol levelsfrom handling angry customers. The result: sagging motivation to keep trying to make progress, often culminating in a sense of defeat by the very systems that are supposed to help employees complete their work. How can teams exhausted from these experiences stay agile to spark the needed innovative work-arounds that will solve customer and morale problems quickly? Three proven strategies can give teams the needed momentum to not give up. A Stressed Team on the Frustration Threshold At her bank, Sara’s team struggled with routine foreign account payments for premium clients. The process required verbal approval from the account holder plus two digital approvals, making it cumbersome for busy executives who often confirmed without reviewing transactions. Multimillion-dollar transfers disappeared for days. Some accounts experienced bounce-backs weeks later due to system errors, one banking team member said. Yet Saras team always cited the same reasons as the source of their stall-outs: The Dodd-Frank Act requirements for international transfers leave us no options to do better. For years, multistep confirmations have been used by banks, exacerbating banking clients frustrations. Already wasting thousands of dollars in lost time, the team asked a key question: Why is transferring the same amount, to the same account, on the same day each month so complicated? Interrupting the Team Frustration Pattern The breakthrough came not from accepting established limitations, but from three key elements working in concert. 1. Identifying the right people. The team-based resolution accelerated three essential perspectives from a small team of the right people close to the problem: A customer with a problem, perplexed by a seemingly simple task, asking the question, Isnt there a better way by now? An operations specialist with deep systems knowledge A customer service representative willing to dig deeper into the maze of systems to check assumptions and ask, Whats missing in order to do this? All parties unwilling to accept the answer, Sorry, that’s just how it works.” This combination provided the authority, expertise, and motivation needed to pursue nonstandard solutions. 2. Safely asking the same question differently (and repeatedly). Returning to one fundamental question, and reframing it in a psychologically safe way, the solution came from a practice referred to as shifting frames, coupled with not accepting explanations about regulations and international banking protocols. “There must be a better way. What are we missing?” This refusal to normalize inefficiency eventually cracked the case. After hearing the same question framed slightly differently multiple times, the customer service representative looped in an operations specialist who recognized, “Waitis this account a certain type? Because if so . . .” The aha moment came not from new information, but from seeing existing information through a different lensprecisely because they refused to stop questioning. 3. Problem-solving collaboratively with a shared goal. What made this experience remarkable wasn’t that one person found the solution. Rather, it was how three peoplefrustrated but committed to finding an answerworked together with increasing focus. The answer that the customer had received for nearly six months from other banking team members transformed into “How can we make this work?”reframed from explaining why it wouldn’t. The Breakthrough Formula The resolution revealed a repeatable formula for breaking through frustrating problems: Persistence + Right People + Questioning Assumptions = Breakthrough Solutions. This approach works because it addresses the three common failure points in problem-solving: Giving up too soon. Most teams stop at the first or second “no,” never reaching the insight that comes after sustained effort. Involving the wrong people. Problems often stall because the people with the expertise, authority, or motivation to solve them aren’t in the conversation. Accepting false constraints. Teams frequently operate within imagined limitations, never questioning whether the rules that appear to block progress actually apply to their specific situation. So how can you apply these principles to your own seemingly intractable problems? Create psychological safety around persistent questioning. Te most valuable question wasn’t the first or second asking about alternativesit was the fifth. Eliminate fear by creating an environment in which people feel comfortable asking the same fundamental questions repeatedly, knowing that breakthrough insights often emerge from persistent inquiry. Bring multiple expertise levels to stubborn problems. While the banking example is a simple one, its also one many can relate to. The long-standing issue wasnt solved by a single technical specialist, frontline employee, or customer pressure. It required the combination of all three perspectives. Focus on the desired outcome, not the process. Throughout the teams interactions, focus was maintained on the end goal (completing the transaction) rather than debating the merits of existing processes, Sara explained. This orientation prevented the team from getting lost in explaining why things weren’t working and kept them searching for how they could find a solution. The Payoff of Productive Persistence The difference between problems that linger forever and those that get solved quickly often comes down to how teams approach the frustration threshold. Average teams give up when initial solutions fail. Exceptional teams recognize that the moment of greatest frustration often precedes the breakthrough. By assembling the right people, maintaining persistent questioning, and collaborating with a solution focus, even the most frustrating bureaucratic tangles can unravelrevealing pathways that were available all along, just waiting for the right combination of perspectives to discover them. This isn’t just about banking transactions or customer service. It’s a fundamental approach to organizational effectiveness that transforms frustration from a signal to give up into a signal to dig deeper, ask better questions, and find the people who can help you see the problem differently. In 2025 and beyond, the competitive advantage belongs not to organizations with perfect processes, but to those with teams who excel at breaking through barriers when those processes inevitably fail.
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Fast Company explores the complicated truth about the effect social media has on this generation’s teen population.
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E-Commerce
Well over a decade on from its initial launch, its safe to say that Google Glass was not a success. While the product had some forward-thinking ideas, its generally not a good sign when your product leads to the coinage of a brand-new insult. The design was off-putting and the technology wasnt readyand neither was society. Today, things are a little different. Meta and Ray-Bans smart glasses are a hit, despite offering the same camera capabilities that turned so many off Google Glass in the first place. It helps, of course, that they just look like normal Ray-Bans. So for Googles second swing at the product category, its focusing on design and functionality. At its I/O keynote this week, Googles XR VP Shahram Izadi gave a snappy but convincing demonstration of how the company plans to attack the form factor this time around. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/multicore_logo.jpg","headline":"Multicore","description":"Multicore is about technology hardware and design. It's written from Tokyo by Sam Byford. To learn more visit multicore.blog","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.multicore.blog","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}} Android apps and Gemini While Googles glasses strategy falls under Android XR, the same operating system powering Samsungs upcoming Vision Pro competitor, it made sure to emphasize that the platform will appear in different forms on a range of hardware. We believe theres not a one size fits all for XR, and youll use different devices throughout your day, Izadi said, noting that an immersive headset like Samsungs is better suited to movies or games, while lightweight glasses are designed for on-the-go use as a complement to a phone. The connecting thread between the form factors is Android apps and Gemini. Google says its adapting its own apps like Maps, Photos, and YouTube for XR, while mobile and tablet apps will work as wellalthough presumably not on glasses, unless they get some significant updates from developers. A multi-device future The Gemini AI assistant, meanwhile, ought to work seamlessly across both headsets and glasses. Elsewhere at I/O, Google placed an emphasis on how Gemini will benefit when you share more personal information, which positions it well for a multi-device futureincluding the phone. Meta, of course, will have something to say about that after recently converting its Ray-Ban companion app into a more general app for Meta AI. The standard spec for Android XR glasses covers devices with and without an in-lens screen. Google didnt go into details about the display technology involved, but its the most obvious path to a functional improvement over the current Meta Ray-Bans. Lately Ive been using Gemini with Googles Pixel Buds Pro 2supposedly built for Gemini AIand while it works well for what it is, I think AI chat interfaces are a lot less compelling when you cant read the responses. Beyond Gemini, the ability to see notifications, Maps directions and real-time language translations could make a huge difference to the smart glasses experience. Design Partners Design is obviously critical to any wearable technology, and Meta made a strong move by tying up dominant eyewear company EssilorLuxotticaparent of Ray-Ban and many other brandsto a long-term partnership. The Meta Ray-Bans would not be anywhere near as popular if they werent Ray-Bans. In response, Google has partnered with U.S. retailer Warby Parker and hip South Korean brand Gentle Monster for the initial batch of Android XR glasses. No actual designs have been shown off yet, and itll be hard to compete with the ubiquitous Wayfarer, but the announcement should ensure a solid range of frames that people will actually want to wear. Google is also working with AR company Xreal on a pair of developer-focused XR glasses called Project Aura. Xreal is a leader in the nascent space for smart glasses; Ive been using its Air 2 glasses for a while and have found them to be great for watching movies or extending a MacBook display on the go. Project Aura is intended to be more capable than the first set of display-equipped Android XR devices that hit the marketitll hook up to an external processing puck that handles computational tasks. Project Aura [Photo: Xreal] Normal glasses Google cofounder Sergey Brin weighed in on the companys past ventures into glasses in an I/O interview with Alex Kantrowitzs Big Technology Podcast this week. I learned a lot, he said. Definitely feel like I made a lot of mistakes with Google Glass, I’ll be honest. I’m still a big believer in the form factor, so I’m glad we have it now. And now it looks like normal glasses and doesn’t have the thing in front. Beyond the form factor, Brin pointed to the rise of AI as a game changer for smart glasses capability, allowing them to help you out without constantly distracting you. He also noted that this time Google is working with hardware partners rather than attempting to wrangle efficient manufacturing by itself. Compelling and deliverable Overall, Googles take on Android XR for glasses looks pretty compelling at this stagebut more importantly, it feels deliverable. Its still early, of course, and lifestyle products like this arent necessarily well-suited to keynote demonstrations. But as someone who uses Meta Ray-Ban and Xreal glasses regularly, it isnt hard to imagine a world in which Android XR glasses are ultimately able to combine the best qualities of both. Now Google has to execute on the design and the software. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/multicore_logo.jpg","headline":"Multicore","description":"Multicore is about technology hardware and design. It's written from Tokyo by Sam Byford. o learn more visit multicore.blog","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.multicore.blog","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}}
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