Being a developer is being an artist. Day by day, we face challenging tools and tasks, both technically and mentally, to create our works of art, tools, prototypes, or products that improve the lives of a select group of people. But how does toxicity affect our ability to create and be the best artists possible? It's easy to understand, but first, we need to clarify what creativity is.
Creativity is the ability to generate original and valuable ideas, solutions, or expressions. It involves thinking innovatively and seeing things from new perspectives, which allows you to solve problems uniquely and contribute something new. Creativity is not limited to the arts; it is also essential in science, technology, business, and everyday life. It is a skill that can be developed and strengthened with practice and openness to new experiences.
Knowing what creativity is, let's talk about the toxic aspects of a work environment: the lack of communication. This can lead you to lose trust in the company and its employees, resulting in a lack of motivation for what you do because you feel there is simply no interest in improving, in changing what may be wrong, in improving the product, in the well-being of the company and its employees. Tense environments are created due to the lack of communication, and this is crucial for building great teams.
The excessive workload, combined with the phrase "there's no budget," leads to a lack of recognition and reward, because there is no proper leadership, or they are simply not open to learning new ways of leading and helping teams grow. This creates the flower garden paradox. Imagine the company is a flower garden, where you must care for, water, and nurture the flowers so they stay beautiful. If you don't communicate with the flowers or observe what is happening to them, the best parts of the flower will eventually fall off, meaning the best employees will leave the company. Those who are good but remain loyal to the company, who in this case are the center of the flower, will also reach a point where they say goodbye. Only the stem will remain, those who have nowhere else to go.
Normalizing abuse in work environments robotizes and kills the self-esteem of developers, stifling them with phrases like "I have stability here," "things will change," or "we made a great team in the past." This won't allow you to focus on continuous learning, because under stress, agony, and other emotions, you feel trapped, stuck, and blocked. This will kill your curiosity, self-esteem, creativity, and ultimately your brain. Seriously, as a technological artist, do you want to live like this?
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