Save Your Soul: A Case for the Nordic Way of Software Development
I moved from New York City to Norway. This makes me an outsider, and it is a gift. As I’ve come to the Nordic software development scene from outside, I can see the systemic patterns that are invisible to the ones that have spent their whole careers here.
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Category:
Developing -
Author:
Dan Cherouny -
Published:
After swapping the 60-hour weekly grind for the Nordic model, one thing is clear: The Nordics have figured out a secret the rest of the world is still trying to ignore. Creating software is not a repetitive process. It is creative, evolving work that requires a high level of mental engagement.
The secret ingredient of the Nordic model is sustainability. The Nordic approach to stress management is the best in the world. This is completely unlike the US where it’s almost celebrated to be stressed from work because it must mean you’re doing something important. Here stress is seen as a silent killer. Burnout is not a badge of honor. People leave jobs because of it, people go on sick leave because of it. A broken developer is a liability, not an asset.
Software development is a game of diminishing returns. Like in all creative work, the more you work, the less output you get from the additional hour. And if you stretch yourself too thin, you’ll eventually be so stressed out that you’re not doing your best work. And even worse, you become ineffective.
Back in the US, we were expected to be always on, sacrificing our personal lives, working late hours even when burnt out and not being productive at all. If I were a client paying a premium price for a software developer per hour, I wouldn’t want to pay for the hours that are put in by some stressed overworked engineer chipping away at code at 9 PM.
That’s not right for the client, but even more, it’s not sustainable for the human being behind the keyboard either. That’s me. I want to be proud of what I do and I will give my 100% and full focus within office hours instead of looking kind of busy and burning the midnight oil for no client benefit. Hustle culture be damned. I’m here to do my best work, not to watch my soul slowly evaporate.
Now that AI is our tireless helper, being a great developer is not definitely just maxing out the number of code lines and commits humans churn out, it’s more about good decisions and clear thinking.
It’s about the results day after day, at the top of my game. It’s not about the grind.
Dan Cherouny is a senior software engineer at Witted. Now, a way more efficient engineer than earlier.
