Deconstructing the myth of workaholics in web teams

There's a huge misunderstanding in our industry: people think of workaholism as a badge of honour. In reality this is a badge of shame.

Transcript

1. Deconstructing the myth of workaholism in web teams
2. A badge of honor?
3. Definition
4. Definition Working for 10 or 12 or 14 or even more hours per day, weekends included, for a few months.
5. Definition (who isn’t) Business owners
6. Definition (who isn’t) Freshmen
7. On good web teams
8. On good web teams Good teams win!
9. On good web teams Synergy
10. On good web teams A sensitive ecosystem
11. On good web teams The frightening invisible bonds grown among team members (Spoiler: Barcelona)
12. On good web teams 40 hours/week are enough (Startups included) -bit.ly/GJ0uxW -bit.ly/17u5VOS
13. On good web teams Workaholics break: - synergy - the invisible bonds - 40hrs/week -bit.ly/GJ0uxW -bit.ly/17u5VOS
14. The profile of a workaholic
15. The profile of a workaholic The next door nerd With no personal life
16. Insecurity Low self esteem, antagonism, authoritarianism, fear of failure, perfectionism etc The profile of a workaholic
17. Power and money is the antidote A need to constantly prove to themselves and to others their superiority The profile of a workaholic
18. An addiction with bad consequences The profile of a workaholic -bit.ly/tme5jb
19. The attractiveness of workaholics
20. The attractiveness of workaholics Why bosses love workaholics
21. The attractiveness of workaholics Case study: A committed lead programmer
22. The attractiveness of workaholics Case study: A project manager with guts
23. The fake glow of workaholism
24. The fake glow of workaholism A shortsighted, not very smart strategy
25. The fake glow of workaholism > A shortsighted strategy Skott Berkun: Simply outworking other people can have a negative effect on others: that 5x improvement may create a -2x impact on everyone else: if the star demoralizes others and goes out of his way to embarrasses them with his talent, morale and productivity are sure to drop. -bit.ly/109b4xD
26. Even the most productive employees can't keep working with such intensity for too long The fake glow of workaholism > A shortsighted strategy
27. The fake glow of workaholism It stimulates people express even worse parts of their personality
28. When a team struggles to cope with an impossible project, its members tend to become fighters. This incredible pressure reduces dramatically the overall quality of work and people start competing with each other. The fake glow of workaholism > The worst parts
29. The team is transformed into a herd and the project fails. The fake glow of workaholism > The worst parts
30. A bitter end: the team is broken and its members are deranged The fake glow of workaholism
31. Not all workaholics are bad people but... the worst ones will first appear as workaholics The fake glow of workaholism
32. A badge of shame
33. Working with workaholics
34. Follow the others Working with workaholics
35. Stand your ground Gotta stay awake, gotta try and shake off this creeping malaise. If I don't stand my own ground, how can I find my way out of this maze? Pink Floyd - Dogs Fighting workaholism
36. Fighting workaholism
37. To business owners (with love):
38. Fighting workaholism Do you dare to create and lead a real team? Stop burning people out
39. Workaholism and working hard are two fucking different things Fighting workaholism
40. Fighting workaholism Cut the bullshit, please
41. Fire the Workaholics -bit.ly/Iq4Lz
42. Yiannis Konstantakopoulos porcupinecolors.com twitter.com/yiannis_k