When The New York Times published its opinion piece “Did Women Ruin the Workplace?”, the internet lit up with outrage. And rightfully so. The very premise was misplaced, not because it questioned change, but because it blamed progress instead of examining the system itself.
The workplace wasn’t ruined. It was just originally designed when women were not in the workplace.
More than a century ago, when the workplace was first built, it was created for only half the population: men who worked, while someone else handled the caregiving, the cooking, the cleaning, and the community building. It was never built for dual-career households, for working parents, or for the diversity of talent that drives the global economy today.
Yet here we are, still trying to make that outdated system work.
Time to Redesign, Not Blame
Instead of asking whether women “ruined” the workplace, we should be asking why the workplace hasn’t evolved to reflect the world we actually live in. The truth is, this isn’t a women’s issue. It’s a design issue.
We don’t need to fix women. We need to fix the system.
The structures, schedules, and success metrics we inherited were never built with everyone in mind. They were built for predictability, not possibility, and for hierarchy, not humanity.
We don’t need to tear it all down, but we do need to redesign it with intention, around today’s realities, not yesterday’s routines.
Designing for the Collective Minority
When we design for the collective minority, the people who have historically been left out of power structures, we actually create a system that works better for everyone. The collective minority now represents the true majority of lived experience, encompassing women, people of color, LGBTQ+ communities, people with disabilities, caregivers, and all generations who are redefining what work looks like.
This is how progress happens. Not by fixing individuals to fit outdated molds, but by fixing the mold itself.
Intentional design means building workplaces where leadership reflects the people it serves, where policies evolve with life stages, and where belonging is measured not by conformity, but by contribution.
Conscious Leadership: The Next Evolution
Conscious leaders understand this. They know that when you design for humanity, not hierarchy, you unlock productivity, creativity, and loyalty. They treat belonging not as a checkbox, but as a strategy for growth. They build cultures that work for parents and non-parents, introverts and extroverts, dreamers and doers alike.
When we lead with intention, we replace division with design. We move from blame to balance, from old power to shared power.
The Real Question
So, did women ruin the workplace? No.
The workplace simply hasn’t caught up to the world we live in.
Now, we have a chance to rewrite the rules: to design systems where everyone can thrive, contribute, and belong. The future of work isn’t about returning to the past. It’s about designing what comes next, together.
Because when we build with intention, we don’t just change the workplace.
We change the world.