Yes, viewing relationships transactionally is not good for either participant. But I think you have taken a rather distorted view of the article - and there’s a more charitable way to view this than a brutal utility optimization:

> someone comes with a question and leaves feeling small, they’ll stop asking. If they bring you a hard problem and you meet it with curiosity, you’ll get more of those. If you always solve things for people, they’ll outsource their judgment. If you always critique, they’ll start hiding the work.

I take this as a reminder that my off-hand remarks to people can really make a difference. I don’t think that is “impoverished” at all.

It’s always important to remember what your position is when making off hand remarks.

An off the cuff comment to a friend or a colleague where you are both equal in stature/responsibility - probably fairly harmless. But important to also remember that you often don’t know what someone else is going through.

An off the cuff comment when you are the CEO or CTO to someone junior - potentially catastrophic for them.