We’re All Innies Now: Apple TV’s "Severance" Feels Too Real

"Severance" is about reclaiming humanity at work. Can we?

Over the last months, maybe you’ve noticed a shift in your workplace. Less care and “people-first”—more compliance and leave-your-humanity-at-the-door. And if you’re a fan of Apple TV+’s Severance, whose second season just ended, you may have noticed parallels between what’s happening on and off the screen.

With the dramatic end of the second season, I wrote a piece for Psychology Today called “We’re All Innies Now: Apple TV’s "Severance" Feels Too Real.

I’m proud of it as a call to action to reclaim our humanity at work, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because decades of research tell us human workplaces are more productive—or, if you’d like more efficient—ones.

Takeaways:

• Cold, transactional leadership is making a comeback—despite decades of evidence it doesn’t work.

• Psychological safety, trust, and autonomy are not job perks—they’re essential to performance.

• Neither leaders nor workers ultimately benefit from systems that punish care and reward compliance.