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I want to add a couple of things to this (excellent) thread.
The first is something Kukshtel hints at near the end, but which can have an immediate, negative impact on diversity and inclusion as well as morale and product quality. https://twitter.com/kkukshtel/status/1338240765605109762
The first is something Kukshtel hints at near the end, but which can have an immediate, negative impact on diversity and inclusion as well as morale and product quality. https://twitter.com/kkukshtel/status/1338240765605109762
Say on a team of twenty, three of your engineers are the "stay late because programming is basically my hobby" type.
And because this is something they're doing on their own time, of their own volition, and for their own entertainment, it's probably not going to burn them out.
And because this is something they're doing on their own time, of their own volition, and for their own entertainment, it's probably not going to burn them out.
So those three developers are more productive. And when it comes time to hand out raises and promotions, they're much more likely to get them. And other people on the team are going to see that, and believe that they have to put in extra time if they want to succeed.
Pretty soon half the team is working regular OT "of their own volition". A lot of them might not actually have the free time, or want to be there, and they may *appear* more productive but overall work quality is going to start to suffer.
And then there are the people with kids, with hobbies, with family obligations - the people who *can't* stay late. But now there's a culture of staying late, especially if you want to get ahead. Management might start asking them what's wrong; why they're not working as hard.
Those people are going to be penalized; they're going to be given poor performance ratings; they're going to either conform (probably at the cost of sleep) or wash out. And they'll be replaced by people who can fit the 50+ hours a week "culture" at the company.
So who is the kind of person with the energy and lack of an outside social life or family obligations who can thrive in a 50+ or 60+ hour week culture? It's mostly young affluent dudes, and to a lesser extent dudes in their 30s and 40s with stay-at-home wives.
So congrats! Your "totally voluntary meritocracy where some people work overtime because they love their jobs" just became racist, sexist, and ageist to the point where you're going to find it almost impossible to hire or retain people who don't fit your existing demographic.
The end result is the same as in Kukshtel's slippery slope - endless crunch and high burnout and turnover.
But this path doesn't even require incorrect estimates or myopic management! The employees can create a toxic culture from the ground up!
But this path doesn't even require incorrect estimates or myopic management! The employees can create a toxic culture from the ground up!
Let me tell you a related story:
I loved my job previous to Google. It was a decent company to work for and a cool product. And for the most part, I never worked overtime (though I admit I was occasionally guilty of working extra when a problem wrapped itself around my brain).
I loved my job previous to Google. It was a decent company to work for and a cool product. And for the most part, I never worked overtime (though I admit I was occasionally guilty of working extra when a problem wrapped itself around my brain).
A few years before I left we adopted SCRUM, which I liked a lot. Our team became excellent at estimating tasks and knowing our velocity to the point that we could usually tie up our last story point with 2-3 days left in a (four week) sprint, fix bugs, and deliver polished code.
We gradually increased our velocity as the devs got more seasoned but pushed back hard on management's requests for more because we knew what we could do (I also had the pull to just say "no" to stuff). Because of that we got shit done and never worked overtime.
One of the other teams was in constant crisis. They would always commit to too much work, then have to crunch and scramble to deliver whatever they could... and then they'd do it again the next sprint. Morale on that team was terrible.
We did more than they did, but they always committed to more points. And sometimes management would come to us and say, "hey you completed 10.5 points last cycle, do you think you can do 11 this cycle? why aren't you pushing yourselves harder?" That's part of giving you autonomy!
And I would say: "We did 10.5 after committing to 10. And this cycle we'll commit to 10.5. Maybe we deliver 10.5, maybe 11. If we commit to something we can't consistently deliver then we won't succeed or we'll have to crunch."
And this is where I hit them with The Truth...
And this is where I hit them with The Truth...
"We're not volunteering to crunch. If you tell us to crunch because our product or company's survival depends on it then we will. But you have to ask us.
"We will not volunteer for overtime."
That shut 'em up. And we continued to kick ass.
"We will not volunteer for overtime."
That shut 'em up. And we continued to kick ass.
