The checklist mindset is everywhere. Engineers burn out grinding through tasks that don’t matter, just to show progress. I’ve watched talented people lose energy slugging through courses or tickets nobody will ever mention again.
A few months ago, I had got engineer on a performance plan. Their goal:
finish an online course (ofc). By the time they hit 90%, they looked done - mentally, not just on the course. The problem wasn’t effort. It was that the material was useless for them and our product. It was just another tick in a box.
But the goal isn’t to harvest certificates. I want growth. I want engineers excited to build, stretch, and push themselves, not to check off low-impact items.
So we stopped. I told them to drop the course. Instead, we set a new goal:
pick a tech stack that mattered for our product vision and learn enough to ship something real. Suddenly, the energy came back. The engineer showed up engaged again. They owned their plan. In two months, they picked up skills that helped the team and made them proud.
Some leaders think grit means sticking to bad goals. In reality, it means knowing when to quit the wrong things. Growth doesn’t follow a form. You don’t inspire people by making them finish pointless work. You do it by caring about progress that actually matters → to them, to the team, to the company.
Next time you’re tempted to enforce “done for done’s sake,” remember: the bravest move might be to walk away. Sometimes, unfinished is where real growth starts.