Here are three current narratives from tech. They are fictional but drawn heavily from many discussions with the three groups mentioned (often at the same company). What is incredible to me is how these narratives interact and clash with each other. You can see all three playing out simultaneously in many companies, with everyone grappling with their own slice of reality.
Is this new? Of course not. People have always experienced their work reality in very different ways, and different actors and work cohorts have always clashed with each other.
What is important, however, is recognizing that your experience is just one of many.
Trigger Warning
Content includes:
Strong language
References to layoffs and job insecurity
Themes of burnout and disillusionment
Language sometimes used by people in power that can feel dismissive or minimizing
I’m worried that we’re going to set up all kinds of processes, rules, and frameworks, and people will start using them as a crutch. They will avoid talking to each other. I’ve seen what happens in companies where the focus shifts to following the process instead of solving problems. Before you know it, you start hiring people whose only job is to enforce the rules. They become process managers.
I don’t want to put people in boxes. I want us to be bold and push hard. People come to me all the time asking me to prioritize, and my first thought is, “Why am I hiring people who need me as the tiebreaker?” It doesn’t make sense. Why take on things you cannot actually commit to?
Most of all, I still think we are capable of doing very innovative things. I want it to feel like a startup. I don’t want people who ask for permission before they act. That is not how we got to where we are, and it is not the story I want to tell investors. I do not want to tell them that we have turned into a process-driven culture filled with “yes” people.
Everyone complains, and then when I ask for a proposal on what to put on pause, somehow no one can come up with ideas.
Lately, all I hear is complaining. Too many dependencies. Too many priorities. I need people to grow up and take responsibility. Everyone complains, and then when I ask for a proposal on what to put on pause, somehow no one can come up with ideas. What am I supposed to do? Make a proposal. Make the case.
It would be one thing if everyone was struggling, but there are people kicking ass right now. They are being proactive and getting things done. So what’s the deal?
Lastly, AI. Do some people just not get it? Do they realize how critical this moment is? Where is the sense of urgency?
Non-stop chaos. That is the best way to describe it. We refuse to put in place even the lightest-weight processes or agreements to make our lives easier. Half my time is spent dealing with escalations, negotiating dependencies, figuring out how my roadmap has to shift to accommodate the latest priority, and then desperately trying to level-set with my various partners.
It is like we want to do startup cosplay at scale without making the investments required to limit cognitive load.
I have worked at bureaucratic, slow-moving companies where people cared more about how we worked than whether the work was actually effective. I have been there. But we are so far from that right now. We could not operate that way even if we tried.
Then you have VPs running around talking about “getting into the details” and asking us to “have a sense of urgency” and “push the teams.” I cannot tell if they are doing that to fall in line, maybe because they are just as scared as we are about our jobs, or if they actually believe what they are saying. Maybe they do.
And give me a ****ing break with the AI stuff.
Do they think people are living under rocks and not paying attention? I get it. AI is helpful. But when the CEO spends more time talking about AI and theoretical productivity than about customers, priorities, and strategy, it really gives you pause.
It is like we want to do startup cosplay at scale without making the investments required to limit cognitive load.
We get it. But are they expecting us to go home and spend three hours experimenting, or can we experiment on the job while also trying to do the fifty other things they want us to do?
I know some teams are doing cool things, and I applaud them. But does anyone realize how greenfield those efforts are and how different it is for the rest of us?
Things are tough. I feel sandwiched in the middle. I can relate to what our leaders are saying, but I also get the pushback from our teams. When I was moving up in management, I had to accept that the job was changing. But this has been very hard.
The hardest thing for me right now is how opaque everything feels. I cannot tell whether people are giving me the full story, and without it, it is very hard to help them. Then we get blindsided by anonymous feedback that makes it sound like the place is falling apart. Who do I believe? How can I advocate for people without transparency?
I am not sure the teams and front-line managers understand the degree of pressure we are under as a business. The stakes are very high. Or maybe they do understand, and I am overwhelming them by reminding them. It is hard to tell.
Looking back over two decades, I have to say that this is the weirdest time I have experienced, with the most mixed signals. Are we on the cusp of something incredible, or at the tail end of something terrible? Were the wins real when things were going well, or were we just riding the interest-rate wave?
I have so many questions, yet I am required to put on a strong face and play the current game. The implication is that somehow we all have to “up our game,” yet it is unclear what is actually going on.
The layoffs were the worst. Sure, I think we had been a little lax as a team for a couple of years. But I also feel partially responsible for scaling things up as fast as we did. I was asking for those headcount. I was taking on the big new projects. So when this whole narrative developed that we are now in a new era of “intensity” and “urgency,” and that only some people could handle it, I felt terrible.
I have so many questions, yet I am required to put on a strong face and play the current game. The implication is that somehow we all have to “up our game,” yet it is unclear what is actually going on.
We had just come off busting our asses during the pandemic, had maybe a year or two of breathing room, and then suddenly everyone needed to be an “A player.”
All of this has seriously stressed my view of leadership and what it means to lead. I used to hold on to a lot of utopian ideas. The last couple of years have been both cutthroat and exciting. But I am tired. I cannot say I have not thought about going fractional and making this my last tech gig.
What strengths or good intentions might be hidden inside each perspective, even if the tone feels harsh or unfair?
How could the desire for bold action, the push for stability, and the skill of balancing competing pressures all work together instead of clashing?
In what ways might each group be seeing something real that the others are missing?
How would your understanding change if you assumed each person is doing their best given what they know and what they are facing?
What could be learned if people in these roles swapped places for a short time?
Where are the areas of overlap in what they want, even if the language they use makes them sound opposed?
How can you personally act as a bridge between people with such different vantage points?
What is one positive takeaway from each narrative that you could carry into your own work?