utilization
Utilization is the seductive magic metric that declares how much capacity or personnel have theoretically worked. High numbers earn praise, low ones bring scorn, yet beneath the statistics lies a swamp of overwork and exhaustion. In the trenches it sows dread, while executives clutch it as evidence of safety. It masquerades as a measure of organizational health but actually amplifies contradiction and starvation. Checking utilization feels less like management and more like ritualistic despair.