[hackworks]

Analogous to “putting all eggs in a single basket”, the risks are very high.

You end up becoming hyper sensitive at work, start taking everything personal -well, it is your identity or ego at stake. Leads be becoming very closed, guarded and aggressive. Everyday becomes a fight for survival.

I personally went through this phase for a long time. Looking back, some of my managers exploited this by reinforcing. They knew if they compare me with anyone, I would up the competition and perform even better. This did not cost them money since I had invested myself, my identity and ego 100%. Overall, resulted in a highly competitive team but extremely stressful and caustic!

After changing teams, I decided to take a step back and make a fresh start. I now work for the love of my work and do not let it represent who/what I am. It is my identity at work. Back home or with friends, I have a different identity. Having multiple things to fallback has made me more resilient and lot more positive.

[mmsimanga]

I wonder if it is an age thing. Paraphrasing but there is a quote along the lines of the difference between experienced people/managers and inexperienced people is they know which battles to fight. Sadly this is a right of passage, you need to fight the wrong battles first before you realise this. I am in my forties now and so much better at selecting which battles to fight.

[tartoran]

You’re absolutely right. Around this age if not a bit earlier people have seen/experienced enough to see things more clearly. I wonder if this is the reason most SV companies prefer fresher meat.

[amelius]

Might also be why companies prefer youngsters over people who are 40+. The opportunity for exploitation is higher.

[randycupertino]

Same thing happened to me. I realized that I actually do better work now that I'm more chilled out and my life is more balanced.