Much of the language I use to talk about sick systems comes from this excellent piece, which gives you the analogy both for a toxic workplace and an unhealthy relationship; warnings for discussion of toxic abuse.

I’m sure all of us have brushed up against some sort of toxic environment in the workplace before. The guy who makes those comments that just make you feel a little bit awkward. The supervisor who likes to talk shit about his employees. The manager who always wants to gossip with you. The feeling that someone’s out to get you; the secretary making all the power plays she can; the person always complaining about how they do all the work — we could cast an entire movie staff with the individuals we’ve met who can ruin a workplace.

What do I mean by toxic? Well, it’s actually different from a sick system, but they can be related. A toxic workplace is hard to define, but at its core, consider the word toxic: there’s poison in the water. There’s something in the environment that’s keeping employees from trusting each other, from building real cameraderie, from being comfortable and happy at the workplace; there’s something blocking the path from the ideal. It isn’t always a concrete thing: it’s the morale, the environment, the general ambience in the workplace and the attitude of the employees.

But even if a toxic environment isn’t directly defineable, it will most certainly have an effect on employee morale, output, and dedication. It makes people difficult to work with, and can often end in a workplace adopting a set of “workarounds” to avoid having to deal with someone toxic. This seems ridiculous! It’s one of the things we’ll discuss in this category.

A sick system, on the other hand, is there to keep good employees “trapped” in this kind of environment. It depends on actual “good” employees – the ones who are invested, who really care about the workplace and the people, who are already going in hard and doing extra and working more – who end up so overworked and overloaded that they can’t even take a second to see the big picture. The trick about a sick system is that yes, you’re trapping yourself.  

Sick systems don’t always develop intentionally, either. You can find yourself stuck in that cycle of stress, always thinking you’re close to a break, that as soon as you get this one thing done everything will be better; a promise that continues to extend its deadline while you’re continually trying to meet yours. It’s a terrible feedback loop, and it’s really easy for technical folk to end up slipping into that mindset and losing the way.

This section will address both of these from employee and management points of view, talk about how to recognize and fix these sorts of environments, and how it can change the business culture for the worse.