michael eaton

I found this via Mike Pope.

Back in 2000, when I worked for a consulting firm, my team and I worked 4 consecutive 90-hour weeks to bring a project to completion.  It was brutal.  It was impossible to write good code under those conditions.  We introduced as many bugs as we fixed.  I can remember actually breaking down at 3am sometime during the 3rd week.  And in the end...was it really worth it?  No.  The client didn't really care (we were being driven by our boss / sales weasel to “get it done”), all they wanted was a solid app.

At the end of the project, I was given a monetary bonus of $1200.  That came out to roughly $6 per hour I spent away from my family.  Yea, that was worth it, NOT!  Right before I left that company in 2001, I was asked to “step up” on another project.  My boss even had the never to say “remember the bonus you got the last time?”.  Whatever.

These places (like EA and my former employer) need to remember that we're human and that many of us have families and priorities outside of work.  It irritates me to think about those 4 weeks back in 2000 - how much time I had to spend away from my wife.  I'm lucky now...I have a great client that is extremely family-oriented.  They understand that the projects are important, but being happy and healthy are just as (if not more) important than a deadline.