The Psychological Importance of Capturing Wins
A deliberate habit for cultivating a winning mindset
As human beings, when we are in survival mode we automatically see everything that can go wrong. When we’re constantly focusing on what could go wrong, we notice every single thing that actually does. I have noticed that for engineers especially, this is a way of perceiving the world that runs very deep. In the context of engineering, it is often extremely effective. One of the most surefire ways to improve a system is to focus on everything that causes it to break, and optimize those weaknesses away. This is an extremely gratifying way to continuously work towards a known outcome, and most engineers fall into the pattern of viewing the world entirely this way. Unfortunately, this one-sided perspective extracts a heavy toll. It results over time in the classic grizzled, curmudgeonly old engineer. All the new recruits come into the company bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, while the older veterans roll their eyes and grumble about the extra work they are going to have to do. Whenever a new feature on the product is suggested by the business, these more experienced developers bemoan the potential complications and pitfalls. They bring up all the maintenance it will entail, and all the late nights and bug fixes they see over the horizon. But why are they so grumpy? Didn’t they get into this field because they like building things? Aren’t they doing the exact thing they studied and trained for years to practice? Why so serious?
It turns out this is the long term effect of only capturing losses. When we orient our sights only on the downsides, we become pessimistic. The same practice that allows us to catch mistakes way in advance also steals the passion from our craft. Every change is a chance for something to break. Every opportunity for creativity is also an opportunity for complexity. Over time this philosophy takes from us our youthful vigor and replaces it with aged cynicism. That is not an exchange we should be willing to make.
So what is the solution to slowly having our souls siphoned? Turns out, it’s not a change in behavior. We’re engineers after all, so we are already doing the thing that we’re here to do. Rather, it’s a change in the way we interpret the events we experience. The key is to capture wins. With every new feature that is built, there is a new technique we learn, a new aspect of our craft we hone, a new challenge that we conquer. And yes, there will be late nights, nefarious bugs, unseen complications, but on the other side of those we will triumph and we’ll have learned so much in the process. As the most experienced on your team, it is critical for you to lead the way in practicing this new perspective. Whenever you see a challenge overcome, call it out. Speak it into the thought space of your team. Make it real. Call out how cool the solution your colleague came up with is. Nerd out for a bit on the clever architecture, give props to the chef. When the team fixes a bug, call out how much easier it’s going to be to maintain the system now. Have gratitude for how the new logging you added is going to make everything simpler for new team members. Give your teammate some love for the documentation they carefully curated to explain where some of the bigger dragons are in the codebase. When you think about it, it really is amazing what your team is able to accomplish. Build a culture where you constantly rekindle your love for your craft. Embrace the inner nerd.
This doesn’t mean pretending the bad doesn’t come with the good. Keep your eyes on those potential downsides as well. But balance the negative realism with an appreciation for everything that doesn’t break. Nothing in life is guaranteed, and it’s a miracle the dang thing works at all. Day in, day out, allowing customers to improve some aspect of their life. Things break sometimes, but they work much more often than they don’t. Don’t allow the minority of negatives get unfair mindshare amongst your team. I know it might seem childish or unnecessary, but I promise you it’s incredibly powerful and fundamentally important. Make your workplace culture healthy and strong, and cultivate the habit of Capturing Wins.
