#85: The line

Are you above it or below it?

It’s been a wild time at work lately. Two weeks ago, we made our AI assistant available to everyone for free and nearly crashed the system’s backend due to high demand. 24 hours later, we found out Sana had been recognised as one of the world’s top AI startups on the Forbes AI 50 list.

Nothing meaningful comes easy. Below is a video I took as a few members of the Sana AI product team merged the final launch changes to production. It was a moment of pure joy—representing both the culmination of months and months of hard work and the beginning of a whole new journey for our company.

Riding on a high like this means it’s only a matter of time before you crash. I spent most of last week in a haze, and I wasn’t alone. We had poured ourselves into this launch.

It can be hard to tell colleagues you’re not at your best. At Sana, we have managed to create the conditions for it with a simple question:

Are you above or below the line?

This might ring a bell for long-standing subscribers. I first wrote about the line in 2022 when I was recovering from COVID. Two years on, the concept means more to me than ever, especially after a busy time like this.

This is the line 👇

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The line represents the border between two states of mind.

If you’re above the line, you are open, curious, and committed to learning. You can find humour in almost anything, listen to others, and question your beliefs.

If you’re below the line, you are closed, defensive, and determined to be right. You’re more likely to look for fault, pass blame, and get overwhelmed.

Humans are hardwired to be below the line. This is due to the brain’s response to perceived threat. Whenever the brain thinks we’re in danger—physically and or emotionally—it releases a cocktail of chemicals in an act of self-defense that takes us below the line. The reason this happens more often than it should is because the brain isn’t good at distinguishing between a threat to our physical survival and a threat to our ego/identity.

The good news is that locating yourself in relation to the line can help you shift your state of mind. Feeling below? Ask yourself if there’s anything you could change to bring you a little further up. In my experience, even one short moment of self-reflection can make a big difference. The same is true for the reverse. If you find yourself above the line, it’s worth trying to identify who or what has helped you get there.

The line scales beautifully from individuals to teams. I start most of my standups and workshops by asking folks where they are on the line that day. With just a few words, everyone has been given permission to let their guard down without having to provide any specifics. And I as the facilitator know how to adjust my expectations. If someone says they’re below the line, and the group trust is high, I usually follow up and ask if there’s anything the group can do to help. Even if the person says no, they almost always appreciate being asked.

Beyond teams, the real magic happens when the line becomes a cultural practice. At Sana, every new joiner learns about the line in their onboarding training so that we all speak the same language. You’ll hear the line mentioned everywhere—in 1:1s, team meetings, even All Hands. When I lost momentum after our big product launch last week, all I needed to say was that I felt a bit below the line, and my team knew to give me some grace. These micro-moments of vulnerability, when repeated at scale, ladder up to company-wide psychological safety and a heightened state of collective self-awareness. That’s because being above the line isn’t only good for you; it’s good for others too. After all, curious, receptive, and collaborative people make work (and life) more joyful. Why not try to increase the joy where you can?

Thanks so much for reading,

Lauren