Don’t be a hero. Your team will thank you.
There is an internal memo at Google called no-heroes which opened my eyes to a new point of view.
What:
When there is a system that takes too high a workload to be kept alive, let it fail. Don’t be a hero.
Who is a hero:
Someone who single-handedly keeps the system alive at any cost, no matter the hours required or the effects on their own health.
Why is it bad:
- Management doesn’t see the need to fix the root cause of the issue since the hero repeatedly keeps it from falling over.
- The hero faces negative consequences on their own health and work-life balance.
- This creates unrealistic expectations for the team members.
How to deal with it instead:
Let the system fail, then run a postmortem to determine how to fix the root cause. Fix the root cause with the whole team involved.
There is an internal memo at Google called no-heroes which opened my eyes to a new point of view.
What:
When there is a system that takes too high a workload to be kept alive, let it fail. Don’t be a hero.
Who is a hero:
Someone who single-handedly keeps the system alive at any cost, no matter the hours required or the effects on their own health.
Why is it bad:
- Management doesn’t see the need to fix the root cause of the issue since the hero repeatedly keeps it from falling over.
- The hero faces negative consequences on their own health and work-life balance.
- This creates unrealistic expectations for the team members.
How to deal with it instead:
Let the system fail, then run a postmortem to determine how to fix the root cause. Fix the root cause with the whole team involved.
