Target Audience
Software Engineers and Tech Lead ManagersGoal of this post
Any engineer reading this should develop an understanding of some of reasons for burnout. If they are themselves feeling burnt or on the edge, they should be able to RCA(root cause analyze) their situation independently and pin point some of the reasons.Demystifying burnout
People often think that high workload causes burnout. But that is a fallacy. Someone who is excited about a technology, passionate about the mission of the company, finds meaning in their work, can see career progress may thrive under heavy workload and may even be super motivated to take on more.
Take ownership
Always remember, as an engineer, you own your career. Managing your burnout is your responsibility. You can seek the help of your manager in the process, but it is always better to be on the driving seat yourself. The goal of this post is to outline the top reasons for burnout so that you can debug it yourself.
- Feeling like you have no control - this feeling is often exacerbated in highly dynamic, changing work environments with lot of ambiguity and lot of conflicting stakeholders
- Not getting acknowledged - again complex work environments and structures amplify this
- Having poor relationships with co-workers
- Being treated unfairly by your boss
- Having different values than your employer - this will lead to shrinkage in the meaning that you derive from the work. You will be less connected to the mission and will question "why" we are doing things. You will lose trust and will not see the same bigger picture as your leadership. This acts as a vicious cycle and you will be less and less motivated to go to work everyday leading to burnout.
- If your organization is structured to hire and feed off of insecure overachievers or people perpetually suffering from imposters syndrome, you need to understand that dynamic ASAP.
elite professional organizations deliberately set out to identify and recruit “insecure overachievers” — some leading professional organizations explicitly use this terminology, though not in public. Insecure overachievers are exceptionally capable and fiercely ambitious, yet driven by a profound sense of their own inadequacy. This typically stems from childhood, and may result from various factors, such as experience of financial or physical deprivation, or a belief that their parents’ love was contingent upon their behaving and performing well.
If you are an engineer reading this post who has experienced burnout, I would love to hear your story in comments.
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