Hackathons

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I don't like Hackathons.

I remember when they went from fun to not-so-fun. I was part of the frontend modernisation project at Expedia. It was a long arduous project, filled with many many technical and people challenges. I loved it. Every day felt like a rush and we were doing something difficult that was going to have major impact. When the next company hackathon came along, I was more interested in carrying on with my regular work. What I was doing was more important and rewarding.

Hmm... does this mean people who love Hackathons just don't like what they are working on? Perhaps, they have a better idea to move the needle for the company? 🤔

From then on, Hackathons felt like a surface fix for a larger problem the organisation didn't know how to address.

Why do people love Hackathons?

Answers I've gotten over the years:

  • It's my idea
  • No processes or reporting
  • Something different
  • Low bureaucracy
  • Get to the end quickly
  • Opportunity to learn something new
  • Don't have to have a dozen meetings

In other words,

  • mastery
  • autonomy
  • purpose

People feel more driven.

This is no different when you work on home projects. Or when I write these posts. We have greater motivation.

I say, forego hackathons. Create outlets in every day operations to help people engage at the level of a hackathon.

  1. Make sure people understand why and are engaged in the problem being solved. It is more important that makers fall in love with the problem to be solved, more than the solution.
  2. Create opportunities to pitch and test new ideas out. According to Marty Sagan in the product management book "Inspired", most good ideas for the product come from the dev and UX teams. Provide a way to let those great ideas bubble up. Work on them.
  3. Generate a structure that is high in autonomy. Trust the people you hire. It is difficult to build great products in a top-down tyranny.

Don't encourage doing all-nighters though.

Recently, my good friend Jacquie sent me this YouTube by Corridor Crew. We were saying, they seem to have a lot of fun at work. Can yours been this cool?

Make every day work meaningful; make it fun.