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If you are burned out watch the talk "Pushing through friction" by Daniel Na. That talk inspired me and saved my job.

ajb 6y ago
That's interesting, but its not the only cause of burnout.
christophergs 6y ago
Thanks for the recommendation, talk was indeed banging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bxZuzDKoI0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bxZuzDKoI0
- tayo42 6y ago
  IDK if i totally agree with some of the examples. Like the new guy coming in and saying how everything can be different and better, just listen to me. That is irritating, unhelpful usually because you don't have all the information yet. It makes two assumptions, that the team isn't competent enough to realize it, and that your current view of whats on fire is more important then everything else going on. The other example of the guy saying from the outside, their fix will only take 2 weeks. That's an estimate from someone who doesn't have the whole picture, if your asking another team. The resolution was to pester people and write up long docs to convince them its worth it. This is immediately adding on to your estimate of time. This idea of friction seems like its more a question of trade offs and prioritizing work. Is it worth going through all this effort and context switching to try to see if this thing can be done. Is it worth distracting other people. I think calling it friction means we could possibly be undervaluing work that is prevented by this friction. Ill have to think about it more
andrewem 6y ago
Can someone summarize the lessons or approach of that talk?
- 29athrowaway 6y ago
  Day one mentality, how to deal with pushback and frustration, how to steer feedback towards constructive outcomes, how to succeed at a medium sized company, how to recognize and avoid normalization of deviance, why these things are important... I don't know if I can summarize every excellent talk point in that presentation. The delivery is also great. Kudos to Dan Na and Dan Luu for creating such great content.
outworlder 6y ago
That was an awesome recommendation. However, I'd argue that that talk is more useful _before_ you start to burn out. Pushing through friction is akin to swimming upwards a waterfall if part of the friction comes from within.
- 29athrowaway 6y ago
  Agreed. I was not fully burned out when I saw this talk but I definitely wasn't enjoying my job due to not having the conceptual tools to deal with these situations. Now I am able to enjoy my job again.
jf 6y ago
I watched the video on your recommendation and am glad that I did. Thanks for mentioning it!

ajb 6y ago

That's interesting, but its not the only cause of burnout.

Thanks for the recommendation, talk was indeed banging: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bxZuzDKoI0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bxZuzDKoI0

tayo42 6y ago
IDK if i totally agree with some of the examples. Like the new guy coming in and saying how everything can be different and better, just listen to me. That is irritating, unhelpful usually because you don't have all the information yet. It makes two assumptions, that the team isn't competent enough to realize it, and that your current view of whats on fire is more important then everything else going on. The other example of the guy saying from the outside, their fix will only take 2 weeks. That's an estimate from someone who doesn't have the whole picture, if your asking another team. The resolution was to pester people and write up long docs to convince them its worth it. This is immediately adding on to your estimate of time. This idea of friction seems like its more a question of trade offs and prioritizing work. Is it worth going through all this effort and context switching to try to see if this thing can be done. Is it worth distracting other people. I think calling it friction means we could possibly be undervaluing work that is prevented by this friction. Ill have to think about it more

andrewem 6y ago

Can someone summarize the lessons or approach of that talk?

29athrowaway 6y ago
Day one mentality, how to deal with pushback and frustration, how to steer feedback towards constructive outcomes, how to succeed at a medium sized company, how to recognize and avoid normalization of deviance, why these things are important... I don't know if I can summarize every excellent talk point in that presentation. The delivery is also great. Kudos to Dan Na and Dan Luu for creating such great content.

outworlder 6y ago

That was an awesome recommendation. However, I'd argue that that talk is more useful _before_ you start to burn out. Pushing through friction is akin to swimming upwards a waterfall if part of the friction comes from within.

29athrowaway 6y ago
Agreed. I was not fully burned out when I saw this talk but I definitely wasn't enjoying my job due to not having the conceptual tools to deal with these situations. Now I am able to enjoy my job again.

jf 6y ago

I watched the video on your recommendation and am glad that I did. Thanks for mentioning it!