What is happening to #tech entrepreneurs? The hidden dangers of the burn out.
I was asked to go on the radio to discuss the future of work. And the number of people suffering from depression and burning out at work. Especially in tech companies as this all aligned to the BBC Mental Health series. This is a subject of real interest to me — as I work in the tech industry at The Landing in Media City.
THE LANDING AND TECH.
At The Landing we have tech companies that are working hard at pushing the boundaries of technology. With companies like SpringChatApp, Inevitable, Xplorre and FLOCK. Be that with 5G, or 3D printing, or in VR and AR. All are working hard to achieve. Many of the bosses of such startups have the “blessing” that Jack Ma described in April 2019.
The blessing that Jack Ma, co-founder of Chinese tech giant Alibaba was the “996”
“Working 9am to 9pm, six days per week.”
But is it right for tech founders to work so hard?
Often when you are working on a passion project or working in the FLOW — you loose track of time — but should you lose track of yourself and your health as well?
And are we designed to cope with being always on?
Tech companies know that if they can tap into our minds — and then our hearts — they can tap into our brains and our wallets. And our time. Which in some ways has become the new currency of expectation for tech companies? How many hours used. Or monthly minutes consumed. These data points — driven by advertising — are more and more become a metric for success. Which is why many tech companies want you to be always there.
Always on.
Always on their app.
For some this has paid them billions of pounds in ad revenue. For others, they need to fit ways to get you back again and again.
Getting you addicted to your own dopamine rush. But are we not the same with WORK? The same — seeking validation through notifications.
With trello boards and Slack channels and WhatsApp work groups. With more and more people — working harder and harder. With a work culture that’s always ON.
As Amber Coster, the lady in the piece by the BBC confessed she was a:
“glamorous high-flyer in a senior role at a successful tech start-up, in her late 20s and travelling the world”
The truth behind it all was that she was working extremely hard.
“I was working non-stop. The company was almost like a love affair. I call it my greatest love affair, because it felt so, so important,” she says. “My identity was so wrapped up with work. If I wasn’t doing that job, I didn’t really know who I was.”
She was regularly getting up at 0530 to send emails, working through until 2330. When she fell into bed. And cancelling weekend plans in order to do yet more work. All the while telling her team to ensure they made time to relax.
The irony being is that she worked for was a software company enabling other businesses to run 24/7. And as Amber says she felt like she was becoming a part of the tech itself.
THIS IS THE GREATEST DANGER.
At tech companies — often with a charismatic leader — huge demands are made of the employees. Especially if the culture is not about people in the first place. So as Amber herself said in the video — where she worked was as a:
“a very aggressive, high-sales, revenue-first organisation”.
Which is OK. If you have the values for this.
But not if you don’t.
But how would you know what values a company has before you join?
Is this shown on GlassDoor? Should it be? Should you have to do the due diligence. Who’s responsibility is it for finding culture fit or value add?
Without knowing it and with the best intentions you can find yourself in a lot of bother. In organisations — again especially in tech- that need to work you hard. But perhaps are not there for your health. Even if they work in healthtech — which a LOT of tech companies at The Landing are starting to do.
In the end, how you teach your team about your values is how the team is going to grow. As Amber says
“We spoke about greatness a lot. And we spoke about lion culture. We spoke about being strong and we spoke about being brave and doing things that other people don’t do. We spoke about being ‘exceptional’.”
All these words are fine and inspiring (if not a bit bloke orientated) but shouldn’t health come before wealth? It’s not an easy conversation to have. But it’s one we need to have more and more in the tech scene.
Success is great. But at what costs. And not just for our employee’s mental health. But for the health of society. As if tech companies are meant to be the power house for employment for the next industrial revolution. Shouldn’t we have to think about what kinds of companies we are setting up. What the cultures are.
Just the like in the first industrial revolution. In the end, factory owners HAD to look into physical health. And give people safety and holidays and all sorts of non-profit seeking productivity goldmines. So we will have to do the same. For #TheFutureWorker for the #FutureOfWork.
The idea of the always on. Mobile. Social media person. The continual marketing person. Powering brand me PLC with insane late nights and early mornings. The coding master with commitments to New York and the terrible diet of pizza and Jolt cola.
Both these types BURN OUT.
SETTING FIRE TO OURSELVES.
Physical symptoms of burn-out are not an uncommon warning sign, says sleep expert and author Dr Nerina Ramlakhan. Who in the BBC programme has the 5 steps — the spiral to burn-out.
Step 1: Constant feelings of pressure and anxiety. A feeling of having too much to do. Waking up with it in the pit of your stomach, starting the day with coffee and your phone.
Step 2: You stop taking breaks during the day. You start working longer hours, you’re taking work home with you. Your work spills over into your weekend, your family time. You’re even sitting on the toilet working.
Step 3: Physical symptoms will bubble up: this might be headaches and migraines, or irritable bowel, or cold sores or lots of little niggling colds, which just don’t go away, or aches and pains in the body. But your work is unaffected.
Step 4: Your behaviour may become more erratic, more impatient, more arguments with colleagues, you are more tetchy, irritable, you may make more mistakes or become irrationally perfectionist. You feel unable to delegate anything. You might start to get very serious muscular-skeletal problems, back problems, neck and shoulder problems.
Step 5: Clients might start to complain. Then you hit rock bottom, serious burnout, serious anxiety, depression, serious medical problems, and that’s where you could be signed off.
WHICH ONE STEP ARE YOU ON?
I recognised a few months back that I was going from Step 3 to 4. I have always been at Step 1 to 2. For me this is just WORK. It’s what I do. But looking at my last health test results — it can’t be what I do for much longer.
However, I have to add. That much of the above is stress related. Which changes from job to job, from client to client, from moment to moment. So getting into FLOW is no bad thing. It should be encouraged. It is just that the stress caused to your body could come back to haunt you later on. Sooner than you think.
Or is it that — stress is caused when you do something you don’t want to do. Again, some might argue this is WORK. But I don’t think so. I think it’s the different type of work. Some might get stressed at public speaking or live TV — I love it. It’s stressful and hard. But it’s a different type of stress.
Personally, I think it’s align to your passions and values. If you are doing something that you love to do. That you are good at. That people will pay you to do. For a company or client that you share the same values as. Then it’s happy days. You stay. And you don’t get ill. But if that’s not the case — then it’s time for a change of scene.
It’s interesting to note that in Amber’s case (and she is much happier now — see pic) she now runs her own tech company.
One which I guess has a value system nearer to her own?
But I wonder as the company grows — will she map her company culture and know when stresses might be being caused. Or how to recruit the right people with the right culture add and value fit. I think this is the future of recruitment.
