Amit Gupta, director of the startup Factoryal, sparked a conversation on modern work culture in his latest LinkedIn post, “The Epidemic of ‘Fake Busy’.” According to Gupta, being busy has become a status symbol in India, but much of it is merely a performance rather than actual productivity.
He describes a workplace culture filled with back-to-back meetings that lead to no decisions, endless email chains with no real action, and WhatsApp groups cluttered with vague follow-ups like “Let’s circle back.” He argues that this creates an illusion of work but adds little value.
“The Epidemic of ‘Fake Busy’. In India, being busy is a status symbol. But let’s be real—most people are just performing productivity. Back-to-back meetings with no decisions. Endless emails with no action. WhatsApp groups flooded with “𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬” messages. It’s all noise, no substance,” reads Gupta’s post.
True work happens in silence
Gupta highlights that real execution doesn’t come with noise or self-promotion. “True execution happens in silence. The people who actually move the needle aren’t bragging about 18-hour workdays or flooding LinkedIn with hustle posts. They’re getting things done,” he states.
According to him, the focus should be on meaningful output rather than looking busy for the sake of appearances. He believes that professionals who need to constantly prove how hard they work are often the least productive.
“If you need to constantly prove how busy you are, you’re probably not,” adds the startup founder.