本文由 AI 分析生成
建立時間： 2026-03-28 來源： https://www.seangoedecke.com/glue-work-considered-harmful/
Summary
Sean Goedecke argues against doing excessive glue work (docs, onboarding, cross-team coordination) because companies deliberately don’t reward it — they want you shipping features, not improving efficiency. The correct use of glue work is tactical: do it for projects you lead and are accountable for, not as a general service to your team.
Sean Goedecke 反對過度做「膠水工作」（文件、入職培訓、跨團隊協調），因為公司故意不獎勵它——他們希望你交付功能，而非提升效率。正確的使用方式是策略性的：只為你負責的項目做，而不是作為對整個團隊的通用服務。
Key Points
- Glue work (Tanya Reilly’s concept): undocumented work that makes teams efficient — updating docs, addressing tech debt, onboarding, cross-team coordination
- Pure hackers don’t ship: some glue work is genuinely necessary for delivery
- Why companies don’t reward it: they want you shipping features, not improving general efficiency — the work is valuable but unsustainable at scale
- Companies intentionally operate at 20-60% efficiency; growing to capture surface area is more valuable than local optimization by exceptional individuals
- Tactical use: do glue work for projects you lead — you won’t be rewarded for the glue specifically but will be rewarded for the project’s success
- Avoid: glue work as a general service to your team; this causes burnout and optimizes for something your company doesn’t value
Insights
The most counterintuitive insight: companies aren’t stupid or unfair for not rewarding glue work — they’re making a rational decision. If exceptional individuals self-subsidize team efficiency through unrewarded work, the company benefits temporarily but the practice isn’t scalable (it depends on exceptional people volunteering themselves) and isn’t lock-in-able (they’ll burn out or leave). The practical implication is clear: use glue-work skill as leverage for project success (your accountability), not as a permanent team service role.
Connections
Raw Excerpt
Companies don’t reward glue work because they don’t want you prioritizing it. And they don’t want you prioritizing it because they want you shipping features. Your job is to execute the mission of your company’s leadership.