Building technology products is easy, but we made it complicated

"It's been almost 20 years since I started my career in product design, and, as you might imagine, many things have changed dramatically since then. One of the main characteristics of the technology industry is the constant evolution of its dynamics, roles, processes, technologies, experiences, and even business models. Those changes are inevitable and will continue. In retrospect, I see that there is one reality that has not changed much over the last 20 years and remains a constant issue to this day: building technology products can sometimes be a discouraging and exhausting process, from junior positions to senior management levels. Why do we suffer every time we need to build something? Why is there so much burnout among today's tech professionals? Why is it that, regardless of the industry, company, or technology, we always hear the exact phrases: "I'm exhausted, I feel drained by this job."? Well, those are valid questions that still haunt me 20 years after my first web design job. It seems like there's no choice in this environment but to suffer."

"There are a thousand ways to fail in executing a digital product project. Regardless of the many variables, failure to deliver a project will always be due to foundational risk factors that compromise its successful completion. As I mentioned before, a lot has changed in the tech industry. At the beginning of my career as a junior designer, watching leaders have complex conversations for hours was sort of a path I wanted to follow. To me, that was an expression of strategy, power, and importance within a company. Now, when I remember those meetings full of bureaucracy, all that comes to mind is a waste of time, resources, and money, but above all, not-so-clear project directions. The "tech machine" was slow, gigantic, and less efficient than it is now."

Many digital product projects fail in numerous ways, but underlying foundational risk factors ultimately cause project delivery failures. The technology industry continually changes in dynamics, roles, processes, technologies, experiences, and business models, and those changes will persist. Despite evolution, building technology products remains often discouraging and exhausting for professionals at all levels, contributing to widespread burnout. Early-career impressions of strategic, important meetings have shifted to views of bureaucracy, wasted resources, unclear directions, and inefficiency. Organizational and process flaws can make the product development environment draining and demoralizing for teams and leaders alike.

Read at Medium