Don't Fire Your Team for Braking Down - Fix the System That Broke Them

A founder once asked me if they should let an engineer go.

“He’s completely burned out,” the founder said. “He’s not producing. I think it’s time to move on.”

I said no.

In fact, we told them to help the engineer find a therapist

Why?

Because the burnout wasn’t a personal failure.

It was a system failure.

This engineer had been the most consistent performer for over a year.

They carried critical features through launch.

They filled process gaps no one else would.

They stepped up, over and over—until they couldn’t anymore.

Burnout doesn’t come from laziness.

It comes from over-responsibility in systems with unclear boundaries, poor prioritization, and zero space to recover.

What we often see:

- Teams treated like machines, not people

- No slack in the roadmap

“Can you just…” requests piling up

- No one noticing until something breaks

Leadership isn’t about replacing people when they’re down.

It’s about seeing the bigger picture—and taking care of those who’ve been holding it up.

That engineer got time off.

They got support.

And they came back stronger—with clearer boundaries and a better team system around them. 4 years later, he leads his own team

Don’t fire the person who broke down. Fix the system that let it happen quiet

The Baseline