From an exit interview
The story
Team Member: “I don’t know what went wrong. I did everything I could, but I felt trapped. It’s like something is stopping me from getting ahead.”
Me: “I hear you. Do you want to talk about it more?”
The Heroic Developer
Team Member: “I’m not sure where it started, but at some point, I became the person everyone relied on. My messages have been blowing up all day with requests. I’ve had no time for my own tasks, let alone improving the quality of my work.”
Me: “That sounds familiar. It’s called the heroic developer trap. You become the go-to person for everyone, which feels good in the short term, but it wears you down. You handle too much, but it takes away your own time and energy to focus on growing and doing high-quality work.”
Withholding Information Trap
Team Member: “Another thing is, I felt like no one could really step in when things went wrong. I knew the system inside and out — line by line, myself, alone. No one else had that level of understanding, and sometimes I felt stuck because I needed help, but no one could really step up.”
Me: “Did you ever get a chance to share that information with the team?”
Team Member: “Not really. I guess I just took it on myself, everyone was busy.”
