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
   

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2. A badge of honor?
   

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3. Definition
   

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4. Definition
   Working for 10 or 12 or 14 or even
   more hours per day, weekends
   included, for a few months.
   

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5. Definition (who isn’t)
   Business owners
   

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6. Definition (who isn’t)
   Freshmen
   

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7. On good web teams
   

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8. On good web teams
   Good teams win!
   

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9. On good web teams
   Synergy
   

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10. On good web teams
    A sensitive ecosystem
    

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11. On good web teams
    The frightening invisible bonds grown
    among team members
    (Spoiler: Barcelona)
    

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12. On good web teams
    40 hours/week are enough
    (Startups included)
    -bit.ly/GJ0uxW
    -bit.ly/17u5VOS
    

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13. On good web teams
    Workaholics break:
    - synergy
    - the invisible bonds
    - 40hrs/week
    -bit.ly/GJ0uxW
    -bit.ly/17u5VOS
    

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14. The profile of a
    workaholic
    

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15. The profile of a workaholic
    The next door nerd
    With no personal life
    

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16. Insecurity
    Low self esteem, antagonism, authoritarianism, fear of failure, perfectionism etc
    The profile of a workaholic
    

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17. Power and money is the antidote
    A need to constantly prove to themselves and to others their superiority
    The profile of a workaholic
    

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18. An addiction with bad consequences
    The profile of a workaholic
    -bit.ly/tme5jb
    

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19. The attractiveness of
    workaholics
    

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20. The attractiveness of workaholics
    Why bosses love workaholics
    

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21. The attractiveness of workaholics
    Case study:
    A committed lead programmer
    

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22. The attractiveness of workaholics
    Case study:
    A project manager with guts
    

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23. The fake glow of
    workaholism
    

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24. The fake glow of workaholism
    A shortsighted,
    not very smart strategy
    

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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
    

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26. Even the most productive employees
    can't keep working with such
    intensity for too long
    The fake glow of workaholism > A shortsighted strategy
    

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27. The fake glow of workaholism
    It stimulates people express even
    worse parts of their personality
    

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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
    

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29. The team is transformed into a herd
    and the project fails.
    The fake glow of workaholism > The worst parts
    

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30. A bitter end:
    the team is broken and
    its members are deranged
    The fake glow of workaholism
    

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31. Not all workaholics are bad people but...
    the worst ones will first appear as
    workaholics
    The fake glow of workaholism
    

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32. A badge of shame
    

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33. Working with
    workaholics
    

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34. Follow the others
    Working with workaholics
    

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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
    

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36. Fighting workaholism
    

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37. To business owners
    (with love):
    

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38. Fighting workaholism
    Do you dare to create and lead a real team?
    Stop burning people out
    

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39. Workaholism and working hard are
    two fucking different things
    Fighting workaholism
    

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40. Fighting workaholism
    Cut the bullshit, please
    

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41. Fire the Workaholics
    -bit.ly/Iq4Lz
    

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42. Yiannis Konstantakopoulos
    porcupinecolors.com
    twitter.com/yiannis_k
    

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