I couldn’t disagree more with you, and I truly feel that the lack of being direct is why we have an overwhelming amount of mediocrity in the “professional” corporate world. When everyone is just nice and we go the passive aggressive route, or have constructive feedback in the vein of “I can see you worked sooooo hard on this”, we get garbage.
If you want people to do their minimums, “act your wage” and all that shit, put your efforts accordingly. If you’re trying to be a part of something excellent and eschew mediocrity, then give your best or fuck off.