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The founder and former boss of BrewDog believes the concept of work-life balance is invented by those who are dissatisfied with their own careers and says people should instead aim to achieve “work-life integration.” and personal life.
James Watt, co-founder of the trendy beer brand in 2007, said Britain is one of the “least work-oriented countries in the world” and suggested people should end their obsession with “life balance.” labor”.
Watt stepped down from day-to-day management of the brewing company last year after 17 years, although he retains his ownership stake in the organization and has a non-executive role of “captain and co-founder.”
At the time of his departure, he said he planned to “take some time off, travel, spend more time with my family and friends,” although he added that his goal was to “spend some more time on my other businesses.” interests”.
Before his departure, several former staff members had co-signed a letter about “toxic attitudes” in the workplace and a “culture of fear” through Watt and co-founder Martin Dickie.
BrewDog apologized and pledged to learn from the matter, although they were criticized last year for backtracking on their promise to pay real living wages.
“I think the whole concept of work-life balance was invented by people who hate the work they do. If you love what you do, you don't need work-life balance, you need work-life integration,” Watt said in a now-deleted Instagram post alongside actress and businesswoman fiancée Georgia Toffolo.
“It's very true, when I met James I was quite surprised by how aligned we were on the important things and one of those things was the lack of work-life balance in a really beautiful way,” Toffolo added.
“Work knows no limits. We're constantly working around the house, but we do things that we find incredibly satisfying, and we also have a supportive other half who loves that high-octane obsession with what we do.
“I always knew I would end up with someone like James because it wouldn't work out otherwise. If someone said to me 'you have to finish now', I'd be thinking 'what? You don't like my business? Don't you believe in me? Are we not striving to achieve the same?'”
While Watt deleted the original post, he reposted it on Instagram with the clarification that he had deleted the first video as a result of offensive or abusive messages.
“I'm always up for a respectful discussion but, after all, there are only so many times in a day you can be called an egg-headed Scottish gay,” he wrote in the replacement post.
To “add context” to his first video, he noted that his content was intended for entrepreneurs and those looking to “jumpstart their careers” and simply represented his own (and apparently Toffolo's) views on the matter.
In December, Watt suggested she might delay her marriage to Toffolo for several years to get tax relief, while she also announced plans to launch an influencer marketplace shortly after leaving BrewDog.
