Compounding pressure
Today I caught myself thinking, "I'm working just as poorly as so-and-so", in the sense that I was skipping certain steps I usually care about—and which I often call others out for when they do the same. But to be fair: I also call myself out, since I try to lead by example. What surprised me was to reflect on the context I was working in, and whether the person who came to mind might often be in a similar situation.
What are the main factors that create a negative working context?
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Impending deadlines. As a delivery date approaches, our stress levels tend to rise in proportion to the amount of work left. Constantly cutting it close to deadlines can sustain—or even increase—that stress level.
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New projects. Code you're unfamiliar with is like being a stranger in a foreign city: everything feels off, nothing seems to be where you expect, and you move cautiously to avoid breaking local customs. This gets worse if the next point applies…
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Broken projects. It feels like walking on thin ice that cracks with every step: automated tests don’t work, you can’t spin up the local environment, configurations are missing, and so on.
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New domain or complex requirements. When you don’t understand why you’re doing something—either because you’re new to the domain or, even as an expert, the requirements are poorly defined—you feel like you’re wandering aimlessly and only landing on the right things by accident.
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Hostile or uncooperative environment. When you're surrounded by distractions, pressure, and little collaboration, the cognitive load becomes too heavy—like going on a trip where you have to carry your whole family by yourself.
When some—or all—of these factors combine, your working context can lead you to make mistakes and skip healthy habits. It’s not uncommon to find ourselves in this situation from time to time, regardless of our experience or seniority. But what about colleagues who seem to be constantly underwater?
I always try to treat others with kindness and empathy, but I think that in these cases, beyond giving good advice, I might try to understand the underlying cause:
If we want to improve how others work, maybe the first step is to improve the context they’re working in.
exit(0);