{
  "author": {
    "name": "Dylan Fitzgerald",
    "url": "https://dylanfitzgerald.net/"
  },
  "blyg": "0.4",
  "changelog": [
    {
      "at": "2024-09-19T03:21:00Z",
      "note": "Imported from the Ctrl+Shift archive",
      "version": 1
    }
  ],
  "content_hash": "sha256:09eea0465c0d1911c417da00bd4fe7be7e39fd72dfe5a272dbb0e8d9dd73e21c",
  "content_html": "\u003ch1\u003eAgainst Heroism\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDoes your organization regularly find itself celebrating its heroes—the folks that go above and beyond in light of a surprising Bad Thing happening, and can regularly be relied on to pick up other folks’ dropped balls?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeems great, I suppose. Everyone loves a hero, right? How lucky you and your org are to have such people on staff!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe (relatively) superficial risk: losing one of these heroes \u003cem\u003ehurts\u003c/em\u003e. If someone churns, burns out, or otherwise isn’t working with you anymore, that’s a tough hole to fill.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe real risk here: \u003cstrong\u003eyour system requires heroism to stay alive\u003c/strong\u003e. Holy shit! This is an emergency! And no, throwing your heroes a pizza party won’t fix the system.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNext time someone in your org commits to the heroic path \u0026amp; saves the day, consider it to be diagnostic. What could have prevented the need for heroism—and at a deeper level than “don’t let that one thing break”? Is it better knowledge sharing among your staff, or an architectural or communication shift, or a new approach in how you talk to customers, or adjusting the promises you make?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you’re relying on Superman, when Superman’s dead, so are you.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https://dylanfitzgerald.net/ox-hugo/against-heroism.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n",
  "content_md": "# Against Heroism\n\nDoes your organization regularly find itself celebrating its heroes—the folks that go above and beyond in light of a surprising Bad Thing happening, and can regularly be relied on to pick up other folks’ dropped balls?\n\nSeems great, I suppose. Everyone loves a hero, right? How lucky you and your org are to have such people on staff!\n\nThe (relatively) superficial risk: losing one of these heroes _hurts_. If someone churns, burns out, or otherwise isn’t working with you anymore, that’s a tough hole to fill.\n\nThe real risk here: **your system requires heroism to stay alive**. Holy shit! This is an emergency! And no, throwing your heroes a pizza party won’t fix the system.\n\nNext time someone in your org commits to the heroic path \u0026amp; saves the day, consider it to be diagnostic. What could have prevented the need for heroism—and at a deeper level than “don’t let that one thing break”? Is it better knowledge sharing among your staff, or an architectural or communication shift, or a new approach in how you talk to customers, or adjusting the promises you make?\n\nIf you’re relying on Superman, when Superman’s dead, so are you.\n\n{{\u003c figure src=\"/ox-hugo/against-heroism.jpg\" \u003e}}",
  "created": "2024-09-19T03:21:00Z",
  "id": "3hkve331e074e3szg5j3whw5zp",
  "kind": "thread",
  "media": [],
  "origin": "https://dylanfitzgerald.net/blyg/",
  "page": "https://dylanfitzgerald.net/blog/against-heroism/",
  "transclusions": [],
  "updated": "2024-09-19T03:21:00Z",
  "version": 1
}