Metadata

Highlights

  • You can think of it sort of like a variant of the Peter Principle (people are promoted to their level of incompetence), but instead of being promoted and given more/different responsibilities, people are just given more of the same work.
  • The “most anyone can do” requires an unsustainable effort that leaves them exhausted and worn out. But burnout is only part of it.
  • They need to feel progress and growth so that their time and effort hasn’t been wasted. A tight deadline or overwhelming workload doesn’t require increased mastery though, it only requires increased endurance. Doing the same work you already do well doesn’t make you better — it makes you bored.
  • Growing your career isn’t extra hours to ship a few more units of 2 work.
  • But that doesn’t mean the harder work needs to be stressful or painful. If management is doing a good job, people should have a fairly constant challenge level.