An ex-colleague, and friend, recently asked if I could join a call to help with some questions that their new team members had about a project I had worked on in the past.
I felt a bit chuffed to be honest. Even after all this time I felt happy that I could add some value to the project.
But, why? The project hadn’t been a great one. Most would call it a disaster (some publicly have). And upon looking back, I know I was suffering with major burnout throughout.
I’d given it my all; regularly doing 10-14 hour days trying to deliver production-level design work whilst influencing budget holders for the oh-so-obvious need for a multi-disciplinary team, always meeting ridiculous delivery requirements whilst also doing all I could to champion for user-centred-design. And then there was also the small thing of welcoming a new baby into my young family. Lovely times marred by some tough times.
It really was tough, there’s no doubting it, and others on the team suffered. Some probably still are. I might still be.
I’m not going to go into the details of the problems but know that there were many.
Looking back, it's obvious the team wasn’t set up for success. Far from it.
I have thoughts on why. Many, many, many thoughts. None of which would be professional to write about. Or maybe, none of which I’m ready to professionally write about… yet.
Coming off the recent call with my friend and their fresh-faced team, I immediately started to wonder if they’re now set up for success. Do they have a chance? I really hope so. The burnt out cynic in me suspects not.