We all love a good hustle. But let’s be honest: if hustling is the only way to succeed, then something is broken.
For years, companies (ours included) have celebrated "high-performing teams" and "high-performing individuals." And while performance will always matter, I believe it’s time to rethink both the language, and the practice, for the realities of modern work.
The Problem with "High-Performance"
Too often, high-performance has become synonymous with constant performance. Always on. Always faster. Always more.
But humans , even the most talented, dedicated ones, are not built to sprint forever. The result? Burnout, turnover, and cultures that quietly normalize stress as the cost of success.
The Shift: Sustainable Success
At Aize we’ve been reflecting on this over the summer. We asked ourselves: What do we actually want our people to experience? What kind of culture do we want to grow in the long run?
The answer wasn’t “higher and higher performance.” It was sustainable success.
The Sustainable Success Framework
Together, we developed a framework that defines what it truly means to perform well, over time. It’s built around four simple but powerful dimensions:
- Output – Delivering on commitments with clarity
- Outcome – Driving value, not just activity
- Attitude – Bringing the right mindset into the team
- Behaviour – How we show up and collaborate every day
Yes, there will be seasons of hustle and intensity, that’s part of business. But if we rely on constant hustle as the baseline, we risk building fragile and short-lived organisations.
Sustainable success balances ambition with recovery, performance with wellbeing, and accountability with humanity.
Why It Matters
The next generation of talent is already asking for this shift. They want workplaces that reward not just results, but also the way results are achieved. And they’re right.
If we want to build great companies, we need to stop chasing performance at any cost — and start designing for success that lasts.
Rebranding “high-performance” to “sustainable success” isn’t just a play on words. It’s a mindset shift. One that, I believe, will define the future of work.
Post written by Linn Johnsen-Haglund
Linn is Chief People Officer and Chief of Staff at Aize. An experienced people and culture leader, she drives Aize’s growth from the inside out, shaping people strategy, leadership development and organizational design. Known for connecting business goals with human insight, Linn has led teams through transformation and built modern, inclusive people programs that prioritize wellbeing and sustainable performance. A passionate advocate for authentic leadership, she believes culture is created by how people show up every day.
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