As a software leader, has your view on work-life balance changed compared to when you first entered the industry? If so, what’s different about your approach now?

Engineering Culture & Values Personal Development

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VP of Engineering23 days ago

My perspective on work-life balance hasn’t changed much, largely because I’ve worked at my current company for a long time and we’ve always had a strong culture around promoting work-life balance. The expectation is that you come in, work hard, and then go home without having to think about work unless you’re on call. There’s no pressure to burn the midnight oil unless there’s a significant issue. We also have a no-blame policy. We conduct blameless postmortems and never attribute problems to individuals but rather to processes. If we fail, we fail together, and we focus on what we can do to prevent it from happening again.

I’ve always believed that when people’s lives are balanced, they do better work. They are more efficient, more engaged, and have the energy and capacity to be more productive. Promoting work-life balance means doing good work during work hours, which reduces the need for after-hours problem-solving.

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Senior Director Strategy & Technology in Software21 days ago

Did my view on work-life balance change? I'd say no.
Did work-life balance change throughout the generations of workers I've seen? Oh yes.

Did my interpretation of work-life balance change? Yes.

First of all, work-life balance wasn't a buzz word 20 years ago like it is today. But there still was work-life balance.

As a young professional 20+ years ago everything in the industry (internet agency and professional services) was new, interesting, and had to be explored. And I believe it was the mindset of my generation: being foolish and curious.
So (at least) I did not care that much about work-life balance on paper. If there was something new to learn or something cool to build or achieve, even if it took long hours of a work day. It was rewarding, and payed towards my personal work-life balance.

Today is different.
The new generation(s) 'value' and 'live' their work-life balance a lot different. In my opinion, their work-life balance nowadays translates to a 9-5 job, and then they are off from work into their balanced life.

With todays (young professionals generations) interpretation of work-life balance, I think I also have a different interpretation.
Personally, I think I am as curious and foolish as back in the days. But the areas of interest changed, and we have so many more possibilities to explore new things that it is no longer necessary to do this 'on the job'; hence I see a shift for me as well.